Los Jalops
are calling
Ford Motor Company to task on claims of clean diesel leadership
in heavy duty pickups. Ford's
Earth Day Press Release, highlighting ten green initiatives that Ford
is committed to, contains this item at #3:
"Ford
Introduces First Clean Diesel in Heavy-Duty Pickup Segment - Ford
is leading the diesel revolution with the 2008
Super Duty, offering
the segment’s first clean diesel engine. The new 6.4-liter
diesel utilizes Ford Clean Diesel Technology™ and meets the
most stringent emissions standards in the world while increasing
power and torque in an engine that is smooth and quiet. The 6.4-liter
PowerStroke® clean-diesel makes an impressive 350 horsepower
at 3,000 rpm and 650 foot-pounds of torque starting at 2,000 rpm
while reducing particulate output by up to 97 percent to a level
on par with gasoline engines."
While technically
the 2008 Ford Super Duty was the first diesel powered heavy duty pickup
to reach dealerships in January 2007 with an emissions system up to
the task of meeting tough new 'Tier 2 Bin 5' EPA standards, it's the
new 2007 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty and its 6.7-liter Cummins I6 engine,
that recently went on sale, that's rightfully in the pole position
for clean diesels.
Tier
2 Bin 5 specifies a 10-fold reduction in particulates/soot (to .01-grams/mile)
and a 2-fold cut in nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions (to .07-grams/mile)
from previous standards. While the new particulate limit has already
taken effect as of January 1st, the NOX portion is being phased in
between 2007 and the end of 2009.
The PowerStroke
just misses hitting the new NOX limit, but Dodge and Cummins
have the full public endorsement of the EPA that the I6 is already
below January 1, 2010 NOX levels - at a measly .05-grams/mile. The
Dodge Ram is so clean it even beats
the emissions of
the tiny Smart Fortwo .08-liter CDI.
So, who's
the clean diesel leader? We'll let you decide.
