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Diesel used to be significantly cheaper than gasoline. I believe the price has gone up due to increased demand or less supply. Diesel is less refined than ga

Diesel used to be significantly cheaper than gasoline. I believe the price has gone up due to increased demand or less supply. Diesel is less refined than gasoline, and I believe the refineries in the USA are optimized for producing more gasoline than diesel and to change this is not a small or cheap task. There would be pressure from the transport industry, eg trucking, shipping, rail, to keep the price of diesel as low as possible, and restricting demand by restricting the availability of diesel vehicles would be one way. I would love to get a small pick up truck with a diesel engine - you can't buy one in North America today. I had several 1980 era Toyota Land Cruisers, a 2500 kg 4WD vehicle, and they got 30 MPG. I literally drove from regina to calgary, 800km, on one tank, which was 84 litres.

te_chris 13y ago
That mileage doesn't seem that good to me. I've got a petrol honda accord, it's a 2.2 L and I can drive auckland to wellington (just over 650 km) on a 55L tank. My friends with diesel golf's can do Auckland to Wellington and nearly halfway back on one tank though.
- nnethercote 13y ago
  So the diesel mileage isn't that good, except for the part where it's significantly better? Thanks for explaining.
chiph 13y ago
You can't buy a small pickup in the US because of the "Chicken Tax" and CAFE. The chicken tax dates from the early 1960s and imposes a 25% duty on non-NAFTA trucks. The CAFE formula includes both a vehicle's "footprint" & it's weight, and light trucks get penalized. I agree with you, btw. Honda had a V6 diesel motor under development that would have been used in the Ridgeline (and Odyssey & Pilot), but Chairman Ito stopped work on it. The V6 diesel and 8-speed transmission in the Jeep Grand Cherokee is very impressive and should be a good fit for the RAM 1500 pickup.

te_chris 13y ago

That mileage doesn't seem that good to me. I've got a petrol honda accord, it's a 2.2 L and I can drive auckland to wellington (just over 650 km) on a 55L tank. My friends with diesel golf's can do Auckland to Wellington and nearly halfway back on one tank though.

nnethercote 13y ago
So the diesel mileage isn't that good, except for the part where it's significantly better? Thanks for explaining.

chiph 13y ago

You can't buy a small pickup in the US because of the "Chicken Tax" and CAFE. The chicken tax dates from the early 1960s and imposes a 25% duty on non-NAFTA trucks. The CAFE formula includes both a vehicle's "footprint" & it's weight, and light trucks get penalized. I agree with you, btw. Honda had a V6 diesel motor under development that would have been used in the Ridgeline (and Odyssey & Pilot), but Chairman Ito stopped work on it. The V6 diesel and 8-speed transmission in the Jeep Grand Cherokee is very impressive and should be a good fit for the RAM 1500 pickup.