25% better mpg from current diesels? Too good to be true?

Desert Captain wrote:
With diesel being about 25 percent higher in cost than regular gas where is the net savings?
Just saying/asking... :h

The price of gas has nothing to do with it. They aren't comparing gas and diesel.

fj12ryder wrote:

Desert Captain wrote:
With diesel being about 25 percent higher in cost than regular gas where is the net savings?
Just saying/asking... :h

The price of gas has nothing to do with it. They aren't comparing gas and diesel.

Yeah, people almost always try comparing gas and diesel by the cost per gallon but what you're actually buying is energy content. Diesel has about 13% more energy content than gasoline, and when ethanol is added to gasoline it lowers the energy content even more. All this according to our faithful and honest Government Agency, the EPA.

bob_nestor wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:

Desert Captain wrote:
With diesel being about 25 percent higher in cost than regular gas where is the net savings?
Just saying/asking... :h

The price of gas has nothing to do with it. They aren't comparing gas and diesel.

Yeah, people almost always try comparing gas and diesel by the cost per gallon but what you're actually buying is energy content. Diesel has about 13% more energy content than gasoline, and when ethanol is added to gasoline it lowers the energy content even more. All this according to our faithful and honest Government Agency, the EPA.

Diesel already gets 10-15 percent more miles per gallon than due to that extra energy content, higher compression and lack of a throttle plate. Another 25 percent on top of that would be huge. So the questions are whether this works as stated in the real world and whether any diesel engine will be politically acceptable in 5 to 10 years.

fj12ryder wrote:

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:

opnspaces wrote:
25% is a huge boost in economy. I don't know if diesel's are figured into the manufacturers Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) or not. But if they can come out with a piston top that gives 25% more economy for a gasoline engine the manufacturer's jump all over that.

You mean like they did with the 200 mpg carburetor? :)

Yup, much the same --- some big oil company will buy the technology and patents and set it on a shelf. Done.

Uh, that was a joke. :)

Mine wasn't. Google it.

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:

opnspaces wrote:
25% is a huge boost in economy. I don't know if diesel's are figured into the manufacturers Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) or not. But if they can come out with a piston top that gives 25% more economy for a gasoline engine the manufacturer's jump all over that.

You mean like they did with the 200 mpg carburetor? :)

Yup, much the same --- some big oil company will buy the technology and patents and set it on a shelf. Done.

Uh, that was a joke. :)

Mine wasn't. Google it.

"Don't believe everything you find on the Internet"

Thomas Jefferson

Desert Captain wrote:
With diesel being about 25 percent higher in cost than regular gas where is the net savings?
Just saying/asking... :h

You’re not really a pot stirrer so why now?

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:
Mine wasn't. Google it.

Yeah, I think it was an urban legend even before the internet. :)

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:

opnspaces wrote:
25% is a huge boost in economy. I don't know if diesel's are figured into the manufacturers Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) or not. But if they can come out with a piston top that gives 25% more economy for a gasoline engine the manufacturer's jump all over that.

You mean like they did with the 200 mpg carburetor? :)

Yup, much the same --- some big oil company will buy the technology and patents and set it on a shelf. Done.

All US and foreign patents that are issues are viewable on the patent and trademark website by anyone, post that a oil company supposedly bought and set on a shelf patent! And patents expire, so anyone can use it once expired. anyone done that?????

And other than perpetual motion machines one doesn't have to prove something actually works to get a patent. Usually the examires will catch ones that are obviously not doable, but there are patents issues that really aren't realistically able to be implemented.

If they could boost MPG by 25%, the auto companies would bid billions for the patent as they could dominate the trucking industry (and other heavy commercial engines) for decades until the patent ran out.

As mentioned, patents aren't secret. They are publicly available. How else would you know if someone already patented an idea? Plus, you can use patented ideas but simply have to pay for them. So if true, it would be worth a court case to open the design to public use.

valhalla360 wrote:
If they could boost MPG by 25%, the auto companies would bid billions for the patent as they could dominate the trucking industry (and other heavy commercial engines) for decades until the patent ran out.

As mentioned, patents aren't secret. They are publicly available. How else would you know if someone already patented an idea? Plus, you can use patented ideas but simply have to pay for them. So if true, it would be worth a court case to open the design to public use.

The patent holder can choose to not license the patent to others.

Exactly. There are a FEW patents that were/are considered top secret by the US gov't and issued but not published. Several such classified patents were issued to Hedi Lamar the actress. Even after they were unclassified they were hard to find since they were issued under her real name, not stage name, made it harder to search by patent holders name.