Hybrid engines are still on its infancy and have a few complex issues that might deter people from buying it. In the meantime, the days when diesel engines were noisy and coughed up a lot of black smoke is coming to an end. And when you consider that this late edition car diesel engine has 30%-40% better mpg than gas engines, the search for having a fuel efficient vehicle might be over.



Since diesel engine has 3-4 times more compression than gasoline engines, it has developed formidable power and has an excellent potential on saving fuel. It also delivers steady torque which is preferred by smart drivers when compared to hybrid engines. Considering hybrid engines have higher fuel ratings, the power produced by diesel engines is hard to ignore. Lately, the fuel rating of diesel engine is also starting to catch up with hybrid engines. In 2006, a German automaker actually produced a diesel car that has a fuel rating of 157 mpg, seats 4 passengers based on 2 cylinder engines having 20 hp.

When diesel engines were first introduced in the response of the oil crisis of the 70s, it has left a lot of bitter memories. Besides being loud and produced a lot of pollutants, the engine has very poor acceleration. This was attributed to the crude fuel injection system that was used. It consisted of a single fuel pump driven by the engine to spray fuel to all cylinders. The resulting combustion was incomplete producing a lot of black smoke and detonation. There were also numerous engine performance problems including difficult starting on cold weather and poor acceleration.

After all the advancements made in electronic fuel injections system, they were applied to the diesel engines. And when you combined that with the electronic turbo charger pressure boost system, the diesel engine made a miraculous transformation. It now runs quiet, powerful and has great acceleration in various rpm range. Central to this new design is a common rail fuel distribution that utilizes a fuel injector solenoid attached to each cylinder. When these solenoids are managed by computers, the fuel timing can be controlled effectively. The computer also monitors different engine loads so that engine acceleration matches or excels those of gasoline engines.

With strict gas emission standards, the biggest obstacle of diesel engine is the production of carbon like particulate matters or PM. These are black particles in miniature sizes that come with combustion exhaust which can pollute the air. When inhaled inside our lungs, it could be a safety health hazard. The same holds true with nitrogen oxides that formed in great quantity by diesel engines that can be blamed for acid rain. It is important to mention that poisonous gases such as those produced by gasoline engines are non existent on diesel engines such CO, CO2 and HC.

After extensive research, both PM and nitrogen oxide emission issues have been resolved. Using dual air filtering system, most PM can be cut to a safe level. The installation of a 3 way catalytic (CAT) converter has helped tremendously in curving nitrogen oxide emission. The CAT was particularly important in lowering the combustion temperature so nitrogen oxides can be burnt completely. When one adds all the pluses, hybrid engines are still 10-15 years away before it becomes main stream. Between diesel and hybrid engines, the former delivers a stronger powerful engine. The new found advancement in electronic fuel injection virtually eliminated the emission problems of diesel engines. And when you consider the cost of operation and what it can do to our environment, diesel engine might be the answer we are looking for.