After years of teasing, +Mazda USA has finally confirmed that it is bringing a diesel engine to the new Mazda6 midsize sedan. The new SkyActiv-D engine is an interesting design, using a lower 14:1 compression ratio. The result is lower combustion temperature and reduced NOx emissions so they don't need an expensive aftertreatment system.
If the sedan is as successful as +Volkswagen USA's diesels, we'll probably see the engine show up in the CX-5 and possibly even the compact Mazda3.
At the LA Auto Show Audi has also confirmed that it has 4 new diesels coming in 2013 which will join the 4 diesels coming to BMW and the Chevy Cruze diesel.
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Why? Why is it time for Diesel? It smokes more, it is almost the same price as gas now, and it is old fossil fuel? How is this Forward thinking AT ALL +Mazda USA ??
Breaking news from 2015 – Why are diesel sales plummeting?
Modern diesels don't smoke at all, they are quiet and they drive as well or better than gas engines. There is also a lot of progress being made on producing biodiesel from algae, a much more efficient process than ethanol.
well I am muting this, to me this is the wrong direction to go, won't buy it, and it turned me off of Mazda.
Better efficiency and better torque seems like a win/win to me. It's not like it's a Mack truck, it's got their new Skyactiv technology. http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/skyactiv/engine/skyactiv-d.html Yeesh, I think that's the quickest I've ever seen someone get pissed at a car company.
There is no one solution that is ideal for every application. For some people a battery electric vehicle makes sense while for others a hybrid or plug-in hybrid works. Diesels and even downsized gasoline engines definitely have a place in our transportation system for many years to come.
As Ford says, it's all about power of choice
+Bryce Womeldurf Really? While every car company is supposed to move away from Fuel, to find better ways "Electric the best" – Mazda does this, the ONLY way to fuel it is from DIESEL
Yes, you can 'say' there is biofuels – they are hugely expensive and not commercially available, and, when they 'are' made – they are too often made from food (Which is ridiculous, we need food for other things)
I can really go on and on. This is a step backward, but cool, you like it, buy it. But Mazda should know that I am not the only one, I have gotten a plus here for everything I said, and I am sure, if this had bigger spread, there would be more
I also live in Alberta, where most of the bitumen for real diesel comes from, where most of the fossil fuel that will go into this car will come from, cause come on, let's be real eh?
+Sam Abuelsamid Really? Quoting Ford you think will sell me? there are a lot of forward thinking companies out there, OBVIOUSLY it isn't Mazda, and lately it hasn't been Ford either.
TESLA
+Gord Birch Tesla maybe forward thinking, but they have yet to offer a product that most people can actually afford and the price is going up before they even offer the less expensive 160 mile version.
Tesla is only targeting 20,000 sales a year with Model S. If 20K Teslas replace similar sized cars that get 25 mpg, that will save 12 million gallons of gas a year (based on 15,000 miles per car).
If you sold 500,000 cars that get just 40 mpg (something very achievable in the next year or so at affordable prices), you'd save 187.5 million gallons (assume these replace 25 mpg equivalents.
In the near to mid term, we'll make a much larger impact on fuel use by encouraging high-volume sales of incrementally more efficient vehicles than a few tens of thousands of EVs. We need to pursue all of these solutions and if you can afford a $100,000 Tesla more power to you but most of us can't so we'll contribute in the ways we can
The pitfalls of electrics are also quite obvious: rare earth minerals, and the fact that most commercially available power for charging is produced through non-renewable resources. Lackluster developments in battery technology (in a time when leaps and bounds are necessary).
Rare earth minerals are being reduced in each iteration of battery and electric motor. Obviously an all of the above strategy is best in becoming more efficient. Tesla is targeting 20,000 Model S sales next year, and there is nothing to say that they will not sell more in 2014. The Model X will also go on sale in 2014. Then the mass market Gen III will hit the market in 2015-16. Alternative fuel vehicles are becoming commonplace in the states and that is a great thing.
In the meantime, fuel efficient diesels are a viable stop-gap solution since the manufacture of diesel actually requires less refinement and the vehicles themselves are quite efficient compared to other alternatives at this time with less compromises. That being said, regular petrol engines are catching up with Miller cycles and direct injection, which could be considered a small victory as far as stop-gap solutions go.
+Onur Kenneth Yumurtaci the need for rare earths is being reduced by most manufacturers. Ford cut the amount of rare earths in its latest 3rd gen hybrid for the C-Max and Fusion by 30% others are making similar progress.
While most electricity in the US is still coming from non-renewables, other countries are making much faster progress, especially Germany where they are nearing 50% from wind and solar.
batteries on the other hand remain the laggards.
Right, Gord, and hybrids and electrics are soooo affordable right now. Mazda began reducing weight on their entire line of vehicles a few years ago, before anyone else was. I just don't see why you're so upset. The Mazda 6 is not a huge volume seller and on top of that only a small percentage of them will be diesel. Not every car company has the capital to invest in hybrid and electric immediately, and reducing weight and emissions, and increasing efficiency are much more affordable, attainable, and immediate to implement. By the way, what happened to muting the post? No need to get angry, muted or not. There are much worse things in the world than a diesel Mazda 6.
Silly +Gord Birch they can make biofuels out of algae, orange rinds, waste sugar cane, and a bunch of other things. Besides, how do you think the majority of electricity is made? Fossil fuels, mostly coal. It's clean coal but it's mostly coal. Guess what else, diesel is pretty clean now. A lot of developments have been made in the 25 years since the last time diesel tried to break into the U.S. market. And one more thing, there would never be electric semitrailers and they will continue to run on diesel, which is why we should be making pushes towards biofuels instead of electric cars and battery tech.
We'll probably nuke ourselves in the next 100 years anyway so saving the planet is moot.
WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW, +Bryce Womeldurf?! HIS WHOLE FAMILY WAS BLOWN TO BITS BY A RENEGADE DIESEL ENGINE DURING THE CRIMEAN WAR!
ASSHOLE!
+Gord Birch, the man who bought the first Olds diesel.