Diesel Electric Hybrid

By: Johan Young

The diesel electric hybrid car models have shown a lot of potential in terms of consumer demand and fuel economy. Because of the low existing numbers for diesel electric hybrid car in the United States, many analysts see the highest growth potential for diesel electric hybrid there. One of the reasons for this is that better fuel economy than gasoline, and therefore, the diesel electric hybrid are potentially capable of offering fuel economies that are better than the corresponding figures for gasoline hybrids.

VW Golf

Volkswagen is taking this opportunity and bringing diesel electric hybrid to the United States by releasing a version of the VW Golf which will be officially unveiled sometime in the latter half of 2009 and intended for the 2010 model year. This is going to be the first American version of a diesel electric hybrid vehicle, making it quite a sensation already though it has at least a year before its official release.

VW Golf (more readily known as the Rabbit in North America) has stated that the company aims to achieve a combined fuel economy of 112.49 kilometer (69.9 miles) per gallon US with carbon dioxide emissions of only 89 grams per kilometer (0.62 mile). In comparison, Toyota Prius delivers 88.5 kilometer (55 miles) per gallon with carbon-dioxide emissions of 104 grams per kilometer.

Unfortunately, diesel electric hybrid cars are very expensive to produce. If you combine a diesel electric hybrid engine, (which costs around $2,000 more than a petrol engine) with a hybrid powertrain, the end result is a very expensive system. Besides that, specific systems to treat the diesel electric hybrid exhausts would increase the unit costs.

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