Nissan Diesel, a lorry maker, recently announced that it will stop making diesel motors for its four-tonne trucks and outsource them to the market leader, Hino Motors.
Most studies to date suggest that shale-gas wells may lead to slightly higher carbon-dioxide emissions than conventional-gas ones because more wells are needed and fracking requires lots of power from diesel motors.
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Currently, only the Volkswagen Passat is available with a diesel option, although General Motors is promising to bring a diesel version of the Chevrolet Malibu to market.
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Add VPG to the growing list of recent green car failures: Bright Automotive (electric delivery vans) , Carbon Motors (clean diesel-powered police cars), Aptera Motors (three-wheeled electric cars), Coda Automotive (inexpensive electric sedans) and, arguably the most infamous, Fisker Automotive (plug-in hybrid sports cars).
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Meanwhile, General Motors offers the Duramax Diesel, which now claims 30% of the diesel truck market.
At the Chicago Auto Show today, General Motors debuted a 2.0L turbo-diesel version of its best-selling sedan, the Chevrolet Cruze compact.
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The good news is that so-called green transportation is a solution to a problem that is more contrived than real given the global oil boom and the emergence of natural gas, not electric motors, as the major alternative to gasoline and diesel.
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Audi, BMW, Chrysler, General Motors, Mazda and Mercedes have all announced plans to launch new diesel vehicles.
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Far Solitaire is powered by a conventional diesel-electric system consisting of three engines connected to generators that run electric motors.
The TDI Clean Diesel engine makes 295 lb-ft from just 1750 rpm, while the electric motors produce their torque-133 lb-ft at the front wheels and 199 lb-ft at the rear-immediately.
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