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Porsche to Cull Diesels in Shift Toward Electric Vehicles
- kenhwang 8y agoMakes sense, Porsche's diesel engines were badge engineered from VW, while their hybrid tech is widely considered to be the best in the "money is no object" hypercar class. Hybrid also plays better with their electric car ambitions.
- userbinator 8y agoPorsche is not a brand I would associate with diesel at all, except in the context of "crazy engine swaps".
- hatchnyc 8y agoDamn, now I will never be able to live out my dream of owning a diesel Porsche.
- RickJWagner 8y agoYeah, I was looking forward to a sweet 911d.
- trhway 8y agothe VW does actually have pretty much it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_R10_TDI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_R10_TDI
- sremani 8y agoFor a time I was tempted to buy Porsche Cayenne Diesel, but they have some weird restrictions on Bio-Diesel fuels. From : http://www.porscheownersmanuals.com/2014-cayenne/10/268-22282/Diesel-Diesel-engine-Fuel-quality http://www.porscheownersmanuals.com/2014-cayenne/10/268-2228... Risk of engine damage and/or damage to the fuel system if diesel fuel with a higher concentration of biodiesel than 5 % is used like B11, B20 or B100. Only use diesel fuel with a blend of 5 % biodiesel (B5) or below. ---------------------------------------------- If I cannot even put B20 in it, there is not point for going with diesel, Cayenne Diesel is the slowest and most un-porshe Porsche!
- jhayward 8y agoThat's pretty old. Around the 2013-2015 model years they upgraded the coatings in the fuel pump and injectors to accommodate the higher corrosion potential, mostly due to glycerin-bound water, in biodiesel. As far as I know everything produced today is B20 rated or higher. The fuel systems are all made by the same two manufacturers for the most part.
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- sremani 8y agoThis is 2015-2016 manual http://www.porscheownersmanuals.com/2015-cayenne-manual/12/276/Diesel http://www.porscheownersmanuals.com/2015-cayenne-manual/12/2... 2017-2018 manual: http://www.porscheownersmanuals.com/2017-cayenne-manual/16/253/Refueling http://www.porscheownersmanuals.com/2017-cayenne-manual/16/2... I do not think there is 2019 Cayenne Diesel model, but I do not see anything other B5 or less.
- jhayward 8y agoThat's interesting, thanks for the links. Since they're using the same Bosch high-pressure pumps and injectors as everyone else I don't see any real reason for the restriction, except perhaps some conservatism in the specs. There's nothing about B20 that would bother any part of the engine or emissions systems once the fuel components are up to date. I suppose they may simply be running out old spec stock. Anyway, to your point, it is disappointing. Along with the whole defeat device thing.
- wutangson1 8y agowouldn't the astm spec for B20 (or any other blend of biodiesel) keep the level of glycerin, soaps, methanol, water, etc. low enough for that not to be an issue? I thought methyl-esters as a solvent would be better for the the engine anyway. But I had a guy tell me two weeks ago that he uses B100 in his new Mercedes wagon despite its 'blue tec' technology.
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- xkcd-sucks 8y agoSome would contend that Porsche never made diesels at all, but I understand that sometimes great companies make terrible mistakes like the Macan and Cayenne It would be really fun to have a waste veg oil burning Porsche though
- dagoat 8y agoHardly terrible mistakes when they are two of their best, if not their best, selling models globally.
- wallace_f 8y agoan analogy: I guess it's easy to find gaming communities which hate EA, yet they sell massively.
- snovv_crash 8y agoYes, but what damage has it done to the brand? They're now a manufacturer of quick family cars, not purely sports cars. Now they are in the same class with Maserati and Lexus for coolness, not McLaren and Lamborghini. This isn't something that can be bought back. "I drive a Porsche" doesn't have the same implications it once did.
- kenhwang 8y agoLamborghini makes a family friendly Urus; guess it's just a quick family car brand too. And the Urus manages to be even more flagrant brand engineering since it's an Lamborghini version of a Porsche Cayenne, which is just an Audi Q7, all based off an VW Touareg. If there's a current Porsche vehicle hurts their brand, I think it's the Panamera. All their other vehicles are either sportiest in class or best in class, but typically both; the Panamera is neither. But Porsche haven't gone anywhere near full BMW yet, and BMW is still cooler than Maserati and Lexus. I think Porsche's brand value is doing just fine. Not every car manufacturer needs to be McLaren/Ferrari/Lamborghini/Koenigsegg/Bugatti, and arguably, Porsche was never part of that group.
- olivermarks 8y ago'Porsche will focus on gasoline, electric and hybrid vehicles because demand for diesel is declining, the Stuttgart, Germany-based manufacturer said in an emailed statement on Sunday.' HN headline is v misleading
- dang 8y agoWe changed to the article title. Submitted title was "Porsche to eliminate all diesel models as it shifts to EVs".
- olivermarks 8y agosurely 'gasoline, electric and hybrid vehicles'?
- dang 8y agoIf you can fit it in 80 chars or less, let us know at hn@ycombinator.com. I tried for a while.
- anon49124 8y agoThere is this guy I know in Los Altos Hills who does this in his driveway. He always has 2 gas->diesel conversions going at any one time either GMC/Caddy, VW or Merc. I'm sure the guy could convert the used petrol Cayenne my stepfather just bought, but there's really no point unless you're biodiesel-ing / out in the country / carry your own fuel / use lots of generators.
- Reason077 8y agoPorsche has not offered any diesel models in the European market since Feb 2018. Diesel was always a minor part of their line-up and not a great fit for the brand, so this move isn’t hugely surprising. It would be a much bigger victory for environmental campaigners if the wider VW group were to join Porsche, Toyota, Volvo, Subaru and Fiat Chrysler in announcing an end to diesel in cars.
- blensor 8y agoI think the whole Dieselgate affair was a huge benefit for the future of electric cars. Because at least in consumer cars the uncertainty surroundig possible limitations with driving into cities (in Austria and Germany) if you have a diesel car will almost erradicate this market segment in the next few years.
- Pica_soO 8y agoIts one of the nice little policy levers you got as politician. Just ignore a "crime" for long enough, to have it entrenched and when you need the motion, get sharp on it.
- InclinedPlane 8y agoFrankly, every government of a developed nation should have a plan for complete phase out of diesel vehicles in the near-term with very few exceptions. There is simply no such thing as a diesel powered automobile which does not have severe detrimental health impacts. Yes, it's a very challenging technological problem to tackle, diesel engines have great utility, but that's no excuse for tolerating the deplorable current state of things.