What we need to recall is that diesel gets its power from turbo charging, without it well it's a dog. Remember the old diesels prior turbo? Yep slow, very reliable and they did have some power but the intro to the turbo made all the difference in my opinion. Even in the new trucks, when u lose the turbo..it's a slow go. I don't think diesels are going anywhere, they are good power plants. Yes I see stricter emissions which makes it harder overall to repair. At my job, our new rescue units are going gas. We have always used Ford units. But with the repair/replacement of the engine wreaks havoc on the overall budget. We are using GM 6.0 units, yes a bit doggy in the 1 ton serie compared to the 3/4 ton unit, but they get the job done. GM derates the power from 360 horse to I think 301 in the 1 ton dually u it's, and they are now running natural gas. Time will tell how they hold up in ambulance use but so far several have made it past 100k hard miles without any issues other then alternators. Anyway just my take, I don't see deisel engines leaving the truck scene anytime soon.
