Will the Diesel be Dead?

time2roll wrote:

4x4ord wrote:
Gasoline has the potential for huge torque and way more power than diesel.

Diesel will always have more BTU per gallon. The only trick is extracting the power efficiently with low emissions.

My bet is still on electric although battery density or fuel cell efficiency still needs improvement to make it work best in long haul situations.

Diesel contains about 13% more energy per volume than does gasoline but it is about 12% heavier so the energy per unit weight of the two fuels is very similar. I guess what really matters is the energy per $ at the pump and that seems to vary an awful lot. The higher efficiency of diesel can also be attributed to the much higher compression ratio. I think it is going to be interesting to see what future engines look like. I agree that electric will be playing a more significant role.