> From: "Wayne Harridge" <wayneharridge@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Yeah, I read an article recently where a petrol and diesel VW Golf were
> compared, the conclusion was that the petrol version was a much better
> proposition than the diesel as the payback period (fuel savings to cover the
> purchase price difference) was about 7 years.
At today's fuel prices, perhaps -- although I'm dubious about the entire
premise, and you might include a reference if you want any fact-checking.
For example, I wonder if they considered the increased lifetime of diesels?
They can easily go twice as many miles as a gasser. Any decent diesel engine
should be good for half a million miles.
> Of course if diesels were
> more prevalent then the difference in purchase price could be lower, but
> that hasn't happened yet.
It's more complicated than that. Diesels will remain more expensive because
materials have to be stronger and tolerances are tighter.
And it has "happened yet." In Europe, more than half the passenger vehicles
sold are diesel, and they're still more expensive. (And they still last a lot
longer, so the value is there for the added expense, beyond simple fuel
savings.)
----------------
With its array of gadgets and machines, all powered by energies that are
destructive of land or air or water, and connected to work, market, school,
recreation, etc.. by gasoline engines, the modern home is a veritable factory
of waste and destruction... It takes in the world's goods and converts them to
garbage, sewage, and noxious fumes... -- Wendell Berry
:::: Jan Steinman, EcoReality Co-op ::::
--
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