{"id":6863,"date":"2020-08-05T12:58:10","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T10:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=6863"},"modified":"2020-08-05T12:58:10","modified_gmt":"2020-08-05T10:58:10","slug":"diesel-vs-gasoline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2020\/08\/05\/diesel-vs-gasoline\/","title":{"rendered":"Diesel vs. Gasoline? Today, the Answer\u2019s Less Clear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Towing heavy trailers and carrying heavy loads frequently are prime arguments for using a diesel, like the 6.6-liter Duramax in this Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD. But an updated Vortec 6600 gasoline V-8 can do most hauling jobs efficiently. Photo courtesy of\u00a0General Motors.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Diesel vs. gasoline? This\u00a0is a question that light-truck buyers have faced almost since diesels became\u00a0widely\u00a0available back in the 1980s. Diesels earned a reputation for durability, long life, and often\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but not always\u00a0\u2014\u00a0high fuel economy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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One engine, the Cummins Turbo Diesel from Dodge and Ram, developed a cult following that spawned a website and regular festivals. Ford\u2019s Power Stroke\u00a0and General Motors\u2019 Duramax\u00a0diesels found their own followers, and it got to where the\u00a0\u201creal man\u201d\u00a0would spec a diesel whether he needed it or not.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For fleet operators, the need\u00a0centered on\u00a0the\u00a0operating savings to pay off the diesel\u2019s price premium, both at\u00a0purchasing time and at the pump, in a reasonable amount of time\u00a0\u2014\u00a0maybe two or three years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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That\u2019s not easy to do anymore. Today\u00a0the\u00a0sales\u00a0trend\u00a0is\u00a0toward gas, according to executives at the Big Three truck builders.\u00a0Ford\u2019s\u00a0Nathan\u00a0Oscarson, Ram\u2019s\u00a0Dave\u00a0Sowers,\u00a0and GM\u2019s\u00a0Dan\u00a0Tigges\u00a0all observe that the price premium for a diesel has gone up since exhaust-emissions limits have grown more stringent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gas Trend\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Developing exhaust-gas recirculation systems and exhaust aftertreatment equipment has been tremendously\u00a0costly and the equipment is\u00a0expensive. All that must be passed on to customers. The cost differential for a larger diesel pickup is $8,000 to $11,000\u00a0\u2014\u00a0though a smaller diesel in a\u00a0\u00bd-ton\u00a0pickup can be far less.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/span>
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The latest\u00a0big-block\u00a0gasoline\u00a0V-8 is Ford\u2019s 7.3-liter model, introduced last year as an alternative to the Power Stroke diesel. Like other gasoline engines, the 7.3 can be had with hardened valves so it can be converted to burn propane or natural gas.\u00a0\u00a0Photo courtesy of\u00a0Ford.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, a gallon of diesel fuel\u00a0is usually\u00a0$1\u00a0or so\u00a0more than gasoline,\u00a0although per-gallon prices of both plunged\u00a0this year\u00a0when a\u00a0production war between Saudi Arabia and Russia drove down\u00a0petroleum\u00a0prices\u00a0and\u00a0the coronavirus-caused economic slump cut demand.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Years before, the builders saw the trend toward gasoline\u00a0coming and each fielded larger gasoline engines to supplement diesels.\u00a0The latest is\u00a0Ford\u2019s 7.3L gas V-8, which\u00a0is becoming popular in Super Duty pickups and\u00a0larger\u00a0cab-chassis models, Oscarson says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

GM\u2019s new 6.6L gas V-8 has \u201camazing performance\u201d\u00a0and sales are climbing,\u00a0Tigges\u00a0says. And Ram\u2019s 6.4L Hemi\u00a0gasoline\u00a0V-8, introduced several years\u00a0earlier, has caught on in many applications,\u00a0says\u00a0Sowers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0new gas engines\u00a0not only do the hauling job, but are lasting longer, routinely running\u00a0200,000 miles and more\u00a0with few repairs. And direct-injection fuel systems have reduced fuel use while working\u00a0on the road\u00a0or at idle (though in some cases direct injection complicates conversions to\u00a0comparatively cheap\u00a0propane or natural gas\u00a0\u2014\u00a0generally another advantage of gasoline engines).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All of\u00a0the Big Three\u2019s large gasoline engines run on 87-octane fuel, even with high compression ratios that bring greater fuel efficiency but traditionally demanded premium. Now, knock sensors allow an engine\u2019s electronic ignition to constantly adjust spark and timing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gasoline engines cost less to maintain because they\u2019re easier to work on and consume less motor oil at drain time, Ford\u2019s Oscarson noted. And their exhaust systems need only catalytic converters. Gasoline needs no additives to keep flowing in very cold weather, though like any fuel, water intrusion can cause headaches.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, diesel fuel should either be of the premium variety in freezing and subzero temperatures or be treated with additives to avoid clouding and\u00a0waxing that can\u00a0plug filters\u00a0and starve engines, and if the wax crystals get through, blow injectors. Complex diesel aftertreatment systems can be costly to maintain and repair and require diesel exhaust fluid at varying intervals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Diesels still have longer\u00a0lives\u00a0due\u00a0to their heavy construction, something needed to\u00a0survive the pounding of very high cylinder compression.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New\u00a0Thresholds\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

If operators know how to care for them, diesels are\u00a0still the way to go where mileage is high and heavy loads are frequently carried or pulled.\u00a0Thus\u00a0the heavier the truck, the more likely it is to get a diesel, the\u00a0Big Three\u00a0execs\u00a0say.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And the fewer the miles and the lighter the loads, the better a gasoline engine becomes, especially if a truck\u2019s engine is shut off much of the time.\u00a0Fifteen\u00a0or so years ago, the operating threshold for choosing a diesel was 30,000 miles a year. Above that, a diesel began earning its keep by cutting fuel and maintenance bills.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Since<\/span>
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Since its introduction by Dodge for the 1989 model year, the Cummins Turbo Diesel has provided efficiency and bragging rights to owners. It\u2019s still true for\u00a0today\u2019s\u00a0Ram HD pickup\u00a0and cab-chassis\u00a0owners, but the builder also offers a less costly and still powerful 6.4-liter Hemi gasoline V-8.\u00a0Photo courtesy of Ram.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now that threshold might be 40,000 miles and maybe more. A buyer\u00a0should\u00a0do an analysis to see where the numbers fall in his or her operation.\u00a0Simply balance\u00a0diesel\u2019s\u00a0upfront premium against any fuel economy gain,\u00a0then\u00a0factor in the difference between the cost of gasoline and diesel. The dollars-and-cents answer should be clear.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But wanting something can be more important than needing it.\u00a0So,\u00a0the builders report that retail customers are more likely to spec a diesel than fleet managers.\u00a0Hey, it\u2019s a free country.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Originally posted on Business Fleet<\/a><\/p>\n

by Tom Berg<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.truckinginfo.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Towing heavy trailers and carrying heavy loads frequently are prime arguments for using a diesel, like the 6.6-liter Duramax in this Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD. But an updated Vortec 6600 gasoline V-8 can do most hauling jobs efficiently. Photo courtesy of\u00a0General Motors. Diesel vs. gasoline? This\u00a0is a question that light-truck buyers have faced almost since diesels…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[172],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6865,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863\/revisions\/6865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}