It was 1977 and a friend of mine, fresh out of college and earning the big bucks as a polymer specialist with a big oil company, was looking to purchase a car.
I accompanied him on a test drive in a diesel Volkswagen Rabbit, which he was considering because of its great fuel miles per gallon rating (the 1970s were times of multiple gas crises in these United States) and the fact that it ran on diesel.
Believe it or not, diesel fuel back then was much cheaper than gasoline. No longer the case, I know. More on that later.
Also, diesel engines were supposed to provide a longer usage life than their gasoline counterparts.
The Rabbit ran well enough, but on an uphill pull on Eisenhower Boulevard it seemed – to put it kindly – to be emasculated.
Rabbits – gasoline versions – had a reputation for peppy performance. Not so with the diesel.
As I explained to him then, diesel engines have a narrow torque band and need to be kept in that sweet spot in terms of revolutions per minute. That’s why diesel trucks can have 15-speed transmissions, or more.
This Rabbit, as I recall, had just a four-speed manual transmission. You figuratively had to row the car up a hill with constant shifting.
It was a no-sale.
Fast-forward to 2023 and diesel cars are way out of favor. But since the 1970s, pickups trucks have swelled in size to challenge the semi trucks of the past, and diesel is a popular pickup truck option, mostly for engine life and torque. Diesel fuel has spiked well above the cost of gasoline, so owners take a big hit, there.
The Holy Grail now is the electric vehicle. While it costs more to purchase initially, just as diesel cars did back in the day and trucks do now, it is supposed to more than pay for that with cheaper operating costs. And then there’s the saving-the-planet angle.
Why, the government will even give you tax incentives to go electric. Clueless Joe Biden was posted on Twitter earlier this week driving an electric Hummer, a vehicle whose price begins at $87,000 and runs right up to $110,000.
Joe was boasting of those tax credits. The only problem was this vehicle would not qualify for any tax credits, which cut off at a vehicle price of $80,000.
You would expect better from Clueless Joe? Have you heard about his classified information problem?
Today, a report from the Anderson Economic Group said that rising electric power costs have pushed the cost to operate an electric vehicle above that of the traditional internal combustion engine.
That’s just the fuel cost. It doesn’t factor in the fact that so many cars will need a battery pack change 10 years or less into their lifespan, which can run $10,000, $20,000 or even more.
You can replace a gasoline engine for less than either of those numbers.
In addition, it is likely that electric power generation and distribution by our failing grid in this country will continue to be a negative factor, producing rising costs and even the inability to get any juice out of the outlet.
Like the diesel cars of the 1970s, these electric vehicles seem like a good, money-saving option, until you look behind the public relations curtain.
When you reach the point where the rubber meets the road – an intentional car metaphor – the electric vehicles don’t save you any money to operate, cost more to purchase, and leave you with less flexibility of use than someone gets by driving a car they are able to refuel at gas stations sprinkled liberally among cities, towns and villages around the country.
Diesel wasn’t a good choice for a car in 1977. Electric vehicles are similar in 2023.
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