Why doesn't America have diesel cars?

Question

Diesel cars offer several advantages, including superior fuel economy, increased torque for towing and heavy loads, and potentially lower overall running costs for high-mileage drivers. They also tend to have a longer engine lifespan compared to petrol cars.

Advantages:
Fuel Efficiency:
Diesel engines are generally more fuel-efficient than petrol engines, especially when driving at higher speeds and on longer journeys.

Torque and Towing:
Diesel engines produce more torque, which is beneficial for towing trailers, caravans, and other heavy loads.

Longevity:
Diesel engines are known for their durability and can last longer than petrol engines with proper maintenance.

Lower CO2 Emissions:
While the carbon footprint of diesel fuel is higher than petrol per litre, diesel cars tend to produce fewer overall CO2 emissions than equivalent petrol cars.

Resale Value:
Diesel cars often retain their value well compared to petrol cars, even after several years.

Suitability for Long Journeys:
Diesel engines are well-suited for long motorway trips due to their ability to provide power at lower revs.

WindAtMyBack · Accepted Answer

The answer is simple. The short version is because diesel engines suck for most people. Most is not all though. There are actually a lot of diesels in the US, but they are not common for typical commuter cars.

Fuel efficiency.
The gap is closing, and may have already closed. Also the cost of fuel has flipped. At one time diesel was cheaper than gas. Now it's the other way around.

Torque and towing.
Most people don't need that. Even most pick up trucks don't need it. That's a specialty market. The kind of people who do need that ARE buying diesels. But those trucks are also very expensive.

Longevity.
Not really. Some diesel engines last a long time. But that is not because they are diesel. It's because most of those engines are designed for commercial use. Diesel engines are high compression. The engine needs to be designed very hefty to withstand that high compression and torque. If they are not designed very hefty, they will not last long at all. Which leads to...

Diesels became somewhat popular in the late 70s and early 80s. I was buying and selling cars then. I used to love buying diesel cars with blown engines. The engines were total garbage. I would either fix the engine or swap the engine for a gas engine. Those diesel engines were FAR worse than the gas engines that usually came with the car. That's because those engines were not designed to be good engines. Being diesel does NOT make them better. Those engines were just not hefty enough to withstand the high compression.

Some diesel engines last longer because they are designed for commercial use, not because they are diesel. Those commercial engines are also much more expensive.

Lower CO2.
Maybe, but I doubt if it's significant. There are also a lot of other emissions besides CO2. Emissions on modern cars are far more dependent on the design of the specific engine and emission controls.

One big problem with reducing emissions is because doing something to reduce one emission could end up increasing a different emission. Like reducing nitrogen oxides might increase hydrocarbons. So it's always fighting against itself.

Resale.
Again, this is not because they are diesel. It's because they are expensive commercial engines. The diesel cars I used to buy had almost no value at all. I picked them up for almost nothing.

"their ability to provide power at lower revs. "
Almost nobody needs that. It depends on the power curve of the engine. You can change the power curve simply by changing the cam - or a lot of other ways. Different engine designs run most efficiently at different RPMs. It's not a matter of better or worse. They just have different characteristics. RPM and transmission gearing is always a compromise. A high revving low torque engine vs a low revving high torque engine might have exactly the same horsepower, but they are good for different things.

I'm not saying I'm against diesels. I'm just saying there is more to it. Both diesel and gas engines are way better than they were when I started driving.

MrOracle · Accepted Answer

In the US, diesel engines are *almost* exclusively the domain of larger pickups and "real" commercial trucks.

In the past, we did import relatively small numbers of diesel cars (mostly VWs and some Mercedes, and a few Japanese models), and there were a couple of experiments with domestic diesel cars (as idiotic as it sounds, GM converted an existing gasoline engine into a diesel and then put it into CADILLACS[!!!] in the 80s in a short-lived experiment), and there were even a handful of Japanese diesel mini pickups in the mid-80s, but they simply didn't sell very well.

Why?

Because they were more expensive to purchase, diesel fuel is more expensive (sometimes considerably so), it's harder to find with maybe only 10% of fuel stations offering diesel, and until the mid-90s or so, they were slow and gutless. They were also loud and smelly prior to the mid-90s - a neighbor had an 80s diesel Cadillac and it would wake me up, three houses away, every time it started up or came home because it sounded like a big-rig rumbling to life and shaking the whole neighborhood.

VW did pretty well with their turbo diesel (TDI) Gulfs and Jettas in the 90s and 2000s, but then it was discovered that they were cheating on the emissions tests (the discovery became the "diesel-gate scandal"), which killed the resale value of those cars, and pretty much ended the diesel car market in the US for good.

You also need to understand that gasoline is quite a bit cheaper here than it likely is where you live, and typically 25-50% less per gallon than diesel in most US states, so the mileage advantage was negated by the cost of fuel, PLUS there was a considerable performance penalty compared to gas. So the US just never had much of a diesel market outside of big trucks, where the torque and mileage advantages made a lot more sense.

DeeDeeDeVour · Accepted Answer

We have a lot of diesel trucks here.

However, we don't have a large selection of diesel-powered cars.

I think it's mainly due to the cost of diesel fuel at the pumps.

Additionally, compared to EVs and gasoline-powered cars, most street-legal diesel-powered cars don't have enough "spunk" despite the addition of turbo-chargers.

trumpetplayerforlife · Accepted Answer

We do lol my husband works on them all the time and I order parts for them

Likes2drive · Answer

There are some but not as many as before once they started using DEF and the diesel prices started getting higher most people went with gas engines, it’s mostly trucks that are diesel here

worldscolide · Answer

It does, but when diesel is 7 dollars per gallon in most places, and with the emissions requirements, it's an unattractive option

Let me break it down for you. Modern diesel trucks have so many emissions restrictions that if one portion of it is broken, the truck stops working all together.. Additionally, nearly all repairs are engine out or cab off making them super expensive... Additionally, a friend of mine has a diesel BMW car. It has a special emissions feature called diesel exhaust fluid. This needs replaced every 50k miles at the cost of 30 grand..

Owning a gasoline car is just cheaper.

Surely · Answer

I had a 1998 VW TDI Jetta. It would give me 48 MPG religiously. I should have had the rust hole in the floor board repaired and put another 220k miles on it!
Diesel powered vehicles cost more in the US and don’t give the fuel economy they once did. Probably because of the emissions requirements. They also cost more to service and to repair if needed. Plus diesel fuel cost more than gasoline.
Diesel powered pickup trucks are a hot topic. People think that they are cheaper to driver. But if you don’t use them as a truck. They probably cost more just for basic transportation.
Plus with the VW emissions scandal. It is possible that foreign manufacturers are afraid to export to the United States!

Douglas1180 · Answer

I had a Mercedes D350 back in the day. It was a royal pain finding diesel fuel -- you have to go out on the highway where the trucks are. The infrastructure isn't made for it, thus the resell value is actually not good. The reason is because Americans have to drive everywhere. Even if I just need some milk, I have to drive. And it's mostly stop and go traffic everywhere, so long journeys aren't the primary concern. It's much better to have a vehicle that's nimble and warms up quickly, too, because, like I said, you're not walking anywhere. Hybrid vehicles have closed the efficiency gap for long distance travel.

Phoenix98 · Answer

1# because anything a diesel car can do a regular pickup truck can do just as good.

2# Diesel is only more fuel efficient then petrol if your on the highway if your driving through a city or town it's efficiency goes down a lot. Most people aren't spending most of their time driving on the highway. Not to mention diesel is far more expensive then gasoline is.

3# Anything you'd need a diesel car to tow again you can tow with a pickup truck most likely.

4# a vehicle being diesel has nothing to do with their resale price that has to do with the parts in the vehicle and their quality.

I'm not against diesel vehicles but I own a almost 30 year old gas powered truck the maintenance is cheaper, I can fix most things on it myself without taking it to a mechanic and the fuel is cheaper and anything I can do in a diesel vehicle especially hauling and towing I can do in my truck.

I see zero reasons to switch over same as most other people.

Professor-college · Answer

I once watched a documentary about that and the biggest reason is that diesel cars are slower there are rpMS are slower because they focus on torque and brute strength so most Europeans don't mind but on this side of the planet people want the car to respond like a sports car and that just doesn't happen with diesel engines

MisterWack · Answer

If you could show me where you got this information, I would love to research more as an American. This seems really interesting.

I know some vehicles in America use diesel hence the option at the gas pump, though if it is so better than petrol, why not just use it?

contentious · Answer

America does have diesel cars (just not many), but primarily we utilize gasoline for personal automobiles because there is more gasoline by percentage in a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (Sweet Light Crude) than diesel. Thus our refining and distribution infrastructure is geared toward gasoline. Diesel fuel is still widely used for trucking, trains, military equipment, etc.

RavVid · Answer

I'm surprised if they don't. GM and Ford offer diesel motors and they are American motor companies. A lot of people go for petrol in preference because the initial cost is lower and out of conservative views because they haven't owned one before.

Diesel engines are heavier too.

jshm2 · Answer

It does. But diesel fuel in America is very poor quality, so there isn't as much milage to be had compared to standard petrol.

Also, Americans only have the illusion of choice. The car monopoly of petrol engine manufacturers ensures a larger profit selling petrol engine parts.

dudeinohio · Answer

Diesel is more expensive than gasoline. We used to have some diesel cars; but there weren't enough sales to justify them.

FunkyMonkee · Answer

I suppose because they'd be noisy and stink up the place. Seems to me, diesel costs a lot more, too

Ariesman81 · Answer

Once DPF is eliminated you'll see more diesels hit the US market. Diesel is a better fuel, but the subsidies given to ethanol fuel are so high that it makes diesel uncompetitive.

ProbablyClueless · Answer

I'm sure it's the lasting result of Standard Oil's monopoly in America during the late 1800s. It's true that gasoline has a little more pep to it, but the Diesel engine is simply a superior engine.

genericname85 · Answer

diesel cars only hafe lower CO2 emissions since they have built in mechanics to reduce emissions which actually negate the longevity advantage they actually had back when nobody cared about pollution.

Sal_Monella · Answer

Fuel cost. The manufacture of Diesel costs less than gasoline but democrats tax the Schiff out of it.

Shiprex · Answer

Noisier and the fuel is easier to use up so more profit to the oil companies can be achieved. More power can be delivered more quickly for smaller engines in gasoline engines

Fireguy17 · Answer

they have had them and were not popular here, then the emissions laws came into play and pretty muck killed them off.

DCVsMarvel2 · Answer

It does I wish it didn't though. We need to get away from gas

WonderingManII · Answer

From my understanding there are pros and cons to diesel engines. They don't start as easy in the winter.

dreamstar72 · Answer

They do have diesel cars and pickups

loveslongnails · Answer

They do, but there's not enough profit in them for car manufacturers or fuel suppliers.

Pterodon · Answer

They just don’t sell. There was a big push for them in the mid to late ‘70’s but they just kind of went away.

BDRick · Answer

We’re based on power and speed. It’s been that way for over a century

In_Trance · Answer

It's because vehicle manufacturers make the diesel option too expensive

Sevenpointfive · Answer

we have lots of diesel cars

Dongie · Answer

Don't we?

DrPepper12 · Answer

Two Words: Standard Oil

eagle1951 · Answer

we do

Panthero80 · Answer

Diesel is more expensive.

mfused411 · Answer

Not many

yotaman99 · Answer

I drive a diesel

jahaims · Answer

They do

Why doesn't America have diesel cars?

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