Owners of the new crop of clean diesels will have another maintenance item to concern themselves with if their new cars are equipped with urea injection. The EPA requires that all diesels meet strict new emissions standards, which almost always requires the use of either a NOx trap or urea injection. To ensure that the system is working, a sensor checks both the level and the quality of the urea solution and will keep the car from starting if the tank is empty. The new VW Jetta TDI doesn't use urea, but the new Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC vehicles do. According to Mercedes, a counter will appear on the dash when there are twenty starts remaining. If the driver ignores the message, the car will not operate until at least two gallons of urea solution is added to the tamper-proof tank that resides in the spare tire well. Engineers have designed the urea tanks to be large enough to last about 15,000 miles. This should be large enough that drivers never run out, as the tanks will be checked at every schedules service. As an alternative, small bottles of the urea solution will be available for owners who want to maintain the system themselves. The cost of the urea solution, which MB refers to as AdBlue, will mirror the cost of diesel fuel, so a refill shouldn't cost more than $30 or so. Before anybody asks, yes - urea is a component of urine, and no - peeing in the tank will not fool the sensors. You've been warned.
We knew last month that the Jetta TDI was qualified for the tax credit. Now, word is out that all of the new-generation clean diesels for Volkswagen (TDI) and Mercedes-Benz (Bluetec) will be joining the elite handful of vehicles that qualify for a federal alternative-powertrain tax credit. Formerly reserved for just hybrid vehicles, the diesels have been designated as advanced lean-burn-technology vehicles that meet the Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit standards of the IRS. The credits vary based on the vehicle. In the case of Mercedes, the ML320 qualifies for $900 while the GL320 is good for $1,800. If diesel still isn't your thing, the IRS has also qualified several Ford hybrids as eligible too. Of those, the highest credit (a sweet $3,000) goes to those consumers who take home an Escape or Mariner two-wheel drive hybrid crossover.
Mercedes -- like a lot of other folks -- believes oil is going to run out eventually. But instead of waiting until the "Low on Oil" light comes on, the brand behind the three-pointed-star has set a goal to convert its entire fleet to run on alternative fuels by 2015. That's seven years to get off the drink we've all been addicted to for well over a century.
In the pipeline first are fuel-efficient technologies such as Stop/Start on the marque's next A- and B-Class models sold in Europe. Then come the BlueEfficiency vehicles with Mercedes' supremely parsimonious diesel engines, and eventually the Diesotto first shown in the F700.
And then come the real showstoppers: ethanol, electric, and fuel cell vehicles. There are electric smarts running trials in London right now, and the F600 Hygenius is expected to eventually spawn some sort of production variant. On the face of it, seven years to go diesel- and gas-optional for an entire fleet is somewhat hard to fathom -- but the prediction is coming from a company not previously known for wild daring. Even if they just get close to success, in only seven years, they might prove a nearby rival wrong about what's doable under the new CAFE laws.
Urea injection will finally arrive in the U.S. when Mercedes-Benz launches fifty-state-legal diesel versions of its ML320, GL320 and R320 BlueTec models. Mercedes says these U.S. light-duty diesels will be equipped with AdBlue injection that allows them to meet this country's strict Tier2 Bin5 emissions standards. To live up to that, Mercedes will have to ensure that vehicles are shipped before BMW gets the X5 and 335d into customers hands this fall. The Mercedes vehicles are using a 3.0L turbo diesel V-6 putting out 210 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque, while using urea injection (like the diesel BMWs and upcoming diesel VW Touareg and Audi Q7) to almost completely eliminate NOx emissions. Called AdBlue, it is a solution of 2/3 water and 1/3 urea that reacts with NOx to create nitrogen and water.
The urea is contained in a 7-gallon (8.5-gallon in the larger GL) tank that should only need refilling about every 15,000 miles. In addition to the urea NOx treatment system, the trio also have diesel particulate filters to eliminate almost all of the soot. With these vehicles being T2B5 compliant, that means they will also meet the future Euro6 standards. The ML- and R-class diesels will be rated at 18/24 mpg, while the heavier GL comes in at 17/23. That compares to 15/20 for the ML350 with a gasoline V6 and 13/18 for the ML550 with a V8. The E-Class sedan will also get the urea treatment in 2009 after the next generation model debuts.
When Mercedes-Benz premiered the new GLK compact SUV at the Detroit Auto Show in January, the styling struck most people as at best awkward. With the outward appearance of the full-size GL shrunk down to an Escape-sized vehicle, it still looks like a reject for a Chrysler Sebring crossover. Regardless of what you think of the exterior body work, the latest edition of the GLK that Mercedes is showing in concept form at Geneva next week seems to be capable of pretty serious mileage for an SUV/CUV. The Vision GLK BlueTec Hybrid is another in the series of models using the new mild hybrid system Mercedes is developing with BMW. In this case, Mercedes has combined it with the 2.2L four cylinder diesel for a total output of 224 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque. That's enough to move the GLK to 62 mph in 7.3 sec while getting 40 mpg (US). On the outside, the shell is covered in the same AluBeam paint that was on the anniversary edition AMG CL65 shown in New York last year, which looks absolutely stunning. The production version of the GLK debuts this summer and the mild hybrid system should start appearing in production BMWs and Benzes in 2009.
Mercedes sold over twelve-thousand diesel-powered vehicles in the US last year, but a crankshaft issue is sending 9,004 units back to the dealer for repair. NHTSA says the problem lies in a crankshaft sensor that can fail, which causes the engine to lose power and makes you the "disabled vehicle" the traffic reporter on the radio warns your fellow commuters about. That won't do. The recall affects 2007 E320 Bluetec, ML320 CDI, and GL320 CDI models. Since the sensor defect could leave drivers stranded, we're going to go ahead and recommend that you get this one fixed right away. We're still bullish on diesel, however, because high fuel economy and gobs of torque are a wonderful combo.
Chrysler is showing three concepts that leverage the automaker's ENVI electric vehicle tech tech today in Detroit. The Chrysler ccoVoyager and Dodge ZEO concepts will be covered in separate posts, but they share their main electric drivetrains with Jeep's open-air concept. At the center of ENVI is a 200 kW (268 hp) electric motor with a 40 mile range that's powered by lithium ion batteries. The Renegade concept uses a pair of these -- one on each axle to create a proper 4X4 -- and adds a low gear mode, locking differentials, and a Bluetec diesel "range-extender" engine that gives it the equivalent of 110 mpg when combined with the electric motors. We see a little of the 1998 Jeepster Concept in the Renegade's front end, but beyond that, the little two-seater goes its own way, putting a modern spin on the Wrangler ethos that incorporates environmental sustainability into the overall equation without sacrificing the brand's off-road roots and identity
