VW Golf - World Car of the Year

The 2010 Golf is named "World Car of the Year" by a panel of journalist and auto industry folks.

The real good news in the story I saw at Wired.com though.  Its coming to the US in diesel.  Now the only issue will be whether or not it can handle a blend of biodiesel higher than B20.  The latest clean diesel VW's have an oil dilution issue with higher blends of biodiesel.  It occurs where the particulate trap on the vehicles must maintain a temperature to burn out particulate.  With B99 biodiesel it doesn't fully burn all of the fuel in the particulate trap depositing this residual fuel into the oil pan of the vehicle.  This dilution should not cause issues with the actual wear on the engine if the fuel is ASTM spec (this according to a presentation I saw from a VW engineer discussing their engines).  The issue becomes engine lights go off requiring an oil change between 2,000 and 3,000 miles (as the oil pan fills up over capacity). 

I saw it first in a recent issue of Biodiesel Smarter magazine (a insiders type zine dedicated to sustainable biodiesel news).  By far the best biodiesel trade magazine you will ever find.  Dedicated to B100 and B99 market development.  

I'm curious to see how the industry deals with this.  My bet (and this is a bad thing) biodiesel enthusiasts will just disconnect their particulate trap.  This creating a conflict not just with OEM's and biodiesel users but also the EPA and local regulators.

The sign read: "This is Not a Concept Car"

The return of the VW Turbo Diesel.

Hybrid mpg efficiency with Century Old technology. Thank you Rudolf Diesel and thank you VW for the long awaited return.

I was driving past a VW dealership in Salem, Oregon and what did I see? A vinyl covered new VW Jetta TDI which said along its panels "45 mpg This is Not a Concept Car."

I've been waiting and now it looks like its finally about to arrive. Now lets just hope that Honda, Toyota, Subaru, GM and Ford all follow through with their own suggestions of small sedan clean diesels. I could only imagine what a Subaru AWD wagon would do for Biodiesel if it rolled out with a high efficiency clean diesel engine.

Now the only question is..... Will it be for under $25,000?

The Diesel Hybrid Cometh - Go VW!

I was blown away to see it. Now I just prey it sees the US market. Check it out at Wired Magazine's blog.

VW is bringing on a TDI electric hybrid power train to challenge Toyota's dominance. This vehicle will be seen at the Geneva Auto Show later this week so I would expect the chatter to cross over into the mainstream after the show.

Claiming a 69.9 mpg, if this vehicle delivers as promise it will be big for us B99 lovers. Its clean enough to meet both EU and California tailpipe standards so a new era might be approaching. The Toyota Prius emits 104/kg of CO2 compared to this diesel which kicks out 89/kg. This is the future of diesel we all have been expecting.

If this touches down and out performs the mileage of gasoline/electric hybrids its only a matter of time before clean diesel becomes a standard option in smaller sedans. Now lets just make sure it doesn't take a nose dive due to uneducated technology biases.

VW's Next TDI

Well here it finally is. The next TDI from VW. Slotted for the 2008 VW Jetta TDI model year. I was told to expect it later this spring as a 2007 but I guess that was pushed back. Either way, hopefully this is the first of dozens of diesel sedans crossing the pond making debuts in the US.

Volkswagen Becomes Shareholder in Biofuel Company CHOREN

Read the Press Release here....

VW, the car of choice of B99 users nation wide, moves farther towards synthetic diesels and away from biodiesel.