What is Clean Diesel?

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by Rafa Irusta/Fotolia
The green transportation horizon is even brighter thanks to new clean diesel vehicles. Compared with a similar-sized gasoline engine, a diesel engine delivers about 30 percent better fuel economy, which also means roughly 30 percent less carbon dioxide emissions.

What is clean diesel? With their superior durability and fuel economy, clean diesel technology enables diesel cars to rival hybrids.

Whatever notions you have about diesel cars, forget them. Long gone are the days of smelly, black plumes of smoke, noisy engines, slow acceleration, and sometimes-finicky operation. The technology has evolved significantly in recent years. Diesel cars are now green cars and a strong green transportation option.

Modern diesel powertrains are quiet, clean, smooth, reliable, powerful, durable and economical. A diesel vehicle will usually cost more than a comparable gasoline vehicle, but the diesel engine’s more robust design means that, with proper maintenance, it should last considerably longer.

For generations, diesel power has been the best choice for work-intensive applications, with no other engine delivering as much stump-pulling power. What’s evolved is how the engine compresses and ignites the fuel to propel the vehicle — a change that has capitalized on diesel’s inherent advantages while virtually eliminating the traits that previously made diesel dirty.

Diesel enthusiasts now contend that a diesel car delivers fuel economy on par with that of a gasoline-electric hybrid, and also offers a better driving experience. (See Clean Diesel: More Efficient Than the Prius? to find out how clean diesel vehicles measure up with gasoline and hybrid vehicles in mpg, price, greenhouse gas emissions, annual fuel cost, and more.)

  • Updated on Mar 2, 2023
  • Originally Published on Jan 4, 2010
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