PARIS SHOW: DiesOtto not forgotten

Paris Motor Show News Special

The diesel's marked for termination in the near future, says Professor Herbert Kohler, the Vice President of e-Drive & Future Mobility at Mercedes-Benz.

The professor, speaking with Aussie journalists last week at the Paris motor show, explained that Benz is still making progress with DiesOtto, the unusual engine technology that effectively combines the best elements of petrol and diesel engines. It's this work that will make the diesel a thing of the past, says Professor Kohler.

Emission legislation is adding cost to the development of diesels and petrol engines are rapidly catching up in efficiency, without the same level of cost, he opines.

The story begins with the Carsales Network correspondent asking for an update on the DiesOtto project.

"What we can see with the new four-cylinder gasoline engine, which is being presented in the CLS for example... Three out of five [DiesOtto] technology [elements] are already on the market," Professor Kohler answered.

"You can see that kind of progress [in] 20 per cent fuel reduction... and the rest of the one [or] two technological advances; they are running on the test bench at the moment. We are driving the first cars..."

DiesOtto on the road is a bit agricultural, it seems. The technology has been trialled by engineers since last year, but the testing has focused on general viability and little else.

"We did that already, last year, which was more of a black-and-white application and it was, let's say, only for test engineers, not for a smooth drive. In the meantime, we are able to use both kinds of combustion methods, very smoothly to merge into each other [so] that you cannot feel it [as] noise or shaking... I'm convinced that will come in total and as described..."

When asked about the short to mid-term prospects for diesel, Kohler returned to the subject of DiesOtto as an illustration of the sort of technology that could make diesel redundant within quite a short space of time.

"Personal opinion on that? I have some doubts that diesel will survive [beyond] the next five to ten years."

The professor reckons on fuel efficiency gains of up to 25 per cent from petrol engines using DiesOtto technology or a DiesOtto engine itself.

How ironic then that just at a point in time when Australians are beginning to embrace diesels, the Europeans are beginning to migrate away from them.

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