On Diesels

I was driving to work this morning when I was cut off by an enormous Ford F-something or other with a Harley-Davidson badge on it.

Now, I know this whole deal has been going on for quite a few years but I've never understood why they put a motorcycle badge on a pickup truck. Yamaha, for instance, has made some engines for Toyota, but you don't see a big Yamaha badge on the back of a Celica. Just a logo on the engine block, if that.

And as far as I'm aware, Harley-Davidson had nothing to do with the engine manufacturing process on the Ford pickups. Somehow I doubt that they're experts on cabin design, given that a motorcycle, by definition, does not have such a thing. In fact the only thing I can think of that is in common between a Harley motorcycle and a Harley-badged truck is how obnoxiously loud they both are.

Anyway, that is not what I intended on writing about today. After the truck had cut me off, it sped off with black smoke billowing from its exhaust pipe. The resulting cloud was so thick that I lost sight of the road, and when it all cleared up I found myself just outside of London, circa 1825.

It baffles me that cars are allowed to do this. The truck appeared to be no more than five years old, meaning here, in the 21st century, Ford is still producing steam locomotives. My 32-year-old Datsun 280Z doesn't spew out black smoke.

I don't know if this particular model employs a regular petrol engine or a diesel engine, but unless it's a diesel and therefore exempt, there is no way it would pass a smog check. I went on Wikipedia to find out, and was unable to find out. What I can say, though, is that the article should be flagged with the line, "This article is written like an advertisement."

But I digress. Perhaps the particular truck I saw is a diesel, and perhaps it is not. Regardless, I have seen many diesel pickup trucks followed by category-five size black cloud of chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. This, apparently, is legal. Diesels sold in Europe that get 60 miles per gallon, however, do not meet emissions regulations in California.

It is said that diesels wouldn't sell in California anyway, because people have embraced the hybrid. Incidentally, manufacturing a hybrid vehicle is more polluting that manufacturing a conventional vehicle. It has also been said that "eco" versions of existing models don't sell as well as hybrid-only models such as the Prius because they are not immediately obvious to be hybrids. The commoditization of hybrid as a social status, then, is why everyone wants one.

This, I believe, is precisely the reason why no one has made a hybrid minivan available in the United States. You would think that a people-carrier would be perfect for turning into a hybrid. It would allow more people to be transported, and they aren't driven fast or off-road (not that people take their Escalades off-roading either, or that they are even capable of being taken off-road). People don't get excited over the prospect of a minivan as they do with a sports car. It is a utilitarian vehicle.

Toyota makes an Estima Hybrid in Japan, so it's not like it can't be done for some reason. However, in the United States, the minivan has been long eclipsed by the SUV as the vehicle of choice for soccer moms and camping dads, so no one will buy them. And a diesel van? That would be doubly unattractive here.