Gasoline-electric hybrids still get most of the green ink, but clean diesels are vying for environmental street cred of their own. What skeptics may not know is that unlike the smoky, noisy diesels of the early ’80s, today’s diesels are as clean as gasoline engines. In fact, diesels emit about 20 percent less carbon dioxide than gasoline engines do. And because diesel engines don’t have to be as large as gas engines to generate the same power, diesels are up to 40 percent more fuel-efficient.
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You’ll pay more for a diesel model than its gasoline-engine sibling, mostly because of the complex antipollution hardware and limited sales in the U.S. The premium ranges from $1,500 on Mercedes-Benz’s M-Class and R-Class diesels to $4,000 on the Audi Q7 TDI. (The seven-seat Mercedes GL320 BlueTEC is a rarity — it’s $1,000 cheaper than the gas-engine model.) But if you hold on to a diesel vehicle for five years, you’ll recoup much of the cost of the vehicle with savings at the fuel pump. Plus, tax credits are available for diesels; for the 2009 models, they range from $900 to $1,800.
Other than heavy-duty trucks, all diesels currently for sale in the U.S. are made by German car companies, which already sell large numbers of diesels throughout the world. The lineup consists mostly of SUVs, but more sedans are coming. For example, Mercedes-Benz’s 2010 E350 BlueTEC will arrive next March.
I put three all-new diesel models through their paces and then applied the Kiplinger’s value test. Other than labeling and a different feel as you accelerate, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the diesel and the gasoline model.
The sticker price of the BMW 335d is $44,725, or $1,700 more than the gasoline-engine 335i. The 335d’s 425 pound-feet of torque (compared with the gas engine’s 300) sent me screeching off the line. But even with aggressive driving, I easily achieved the Environmental Protection Agency rating of 27 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving. The 335d qualifies for a $900 tax credit.
The BMW X5 xDrive35d got just over 28 mpg on a road trip, beating the EPA highway rating of 26 mpg (city is listed as 19 mpg). There’s a $1,800 tax credit, but the sticker price of $52,025 carries a premium of $3,700 over the already pricey X5 30i.
When you see numbers like 30 mpg city and 41 mpg highway, you probably think “hybrid.” But that’s the fuel economy of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI, the only diesel in the bunch that isn’t in the luxury price range. The Jetta TDI starts at an easy-to-take $22,270. The premium over the gas-engine Jetta SE is $2,175, but you get a $1,300 tax credit.
