Skip to main content

Add new comment

Aaron Turpen    November 19, 2013 - 1:02AM

In reply to by Bill Burns (not verified)

VW spelled it out last year. Cost. When you build a diesel vehicle, there is a cost premium due to the higher cost of the powertrain (more robust engine, higher cost of after-treatment methods for emissions) and another premium for the hybrid powertrain (electrification). A diesel-electric hybrid has both premiums is thus prices itself too far out of the market.

Diesel costs more at the pump, but has more energy density than gasoline, which is why it offers a higher MPG than gasoline. I did the math a couple of years ago on the cost vs. benefit of a Passat TDI versus a gasoline version and it was significantly cheaper to go diesel over time. For those who primarily drive on the highway, it also beats a Volt and several other hybrids.

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <ul> <ol'> <code> <li> <i>
  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.