Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/416433
Fuel Factoid By Tom Kelley 46 // OWNER OPERATOR // DECEMBER 2014 G iven all the interest in hydrogen fuel and hybrid vehicles, you might think we could replace our diesel-and gasoline-powered vehicles tomorrow if we wanted to do so. Unfortunately, the eventual demise of diesel fuel is still at least a generation or two away. The best thing diesel has going for it is what the engineers refer to as "power density," or in every- day terminology, the amount of space taken up by the fuel required to travel a certain distance. It's a bit like the cereal commercial where they show how many bowls of something else you'd need to eat to match the nutrition in the advertised brand. $VORQJDVWUXFNVDUHUHTXLUHGWRSHUIRUPHI¿FLHQW- ly in both stop-and-go extended steady-state op- eration, diesel fuel will remain the preferred "diet" of engines that move long-haul freight. This doesn't mean that hydrogen or hybrids are without merit; just that they're not practical in most freight applications. +\EULGVDUHPRVWHI¿FLHQWLQKLJKF\FOHHQYLURQ- PHQWVVXFKDVVWRSDQGJRWUDI¿FRUXUEDQSLFNXS and delivery, where energy that would otherwise be lost as brake heat can be reclaimed through regenerative braking, stored in a battery, and then used later for propulsion. Regular, Or . . . ? Diesel Still The Most Practical Fuel By Tom Kelley