Clean Diesel TDI Touareg 2
Volkswagen has a long standing tradition of standing behind their diesel (TDI) products. Whether it is racing a TDI Touareg up Pikes Peak, or promoting the use of Biodiesel, VW has quite a loyalty to their TDI drivers. They recently just launched a factory blog to help promote the benefits of clean diesel, and to debunk myths about clean diesels.
Surfing through www.tditruthanddare.com, the aim of the site is really clear. Not only is VW opening up an unedited blog for consumers to give hard facts about their cars, but also run the non oil burners through some basic education. With fairly cheap gas, diesel drivers have been slowly whittled down to a niche market, and there is a lot of misinformation about the cars.
First complaint most non diesel drivers launch into is “well, I wouldn’t even know to where to gas up,” followed by a “well, it’s also more expensive than gas.” Hearsay and misinformation run rampant around diesels, so a simple fact check that there are 60,000 gas stations that sell diesel starts to chip the bias away. The Diesel Finder service on the site helps the owners find the stations, recommends the ones with the cheapest prices, and also can generate the most fuel efficient route to get there.
Retorting to the myth that diesel is more expensive, and costs more to operate, the site has a fuel savings calculator that can do side by side comparisons against other cars. Education is key, are for many drivers, they’ll chose a non diesel option based on a friends advice. Seeing the hard facts that a TDI powered car’s mileage, annual fuel cost, and the availability of the diesel is a great first step in promoting the technology.
One part of diesel technology that hasn’t been well discussed is the difference between newer “clean” diesels and older ones. Since the popularity and availability of diesel engines has been low in the last decade, most people remember not so fondly the apathetic accelerating, soot shooting, rattle rides of the 1980′s and before. Learning that today’s clean diesels accelerate in a manner close to their gan engined counterparts, with more usable around town power, without sending a cloud of soot out the back might be enough to sway some choices.
Once the driver has become a card carrying member of the diesel community, they can compete for the best fuel mileage with the Tank Wars feature. KarFarm is very fond of friendly competition, whether a video game race, or hypermiling for the best economy. Right now the bar is set at a total tank average of 58mpg, but with more people joining, we’ll see how high it can go.
Educating the driving community is an important factor in sales, and it’s pleasing to see VW make the full fledged effort.
-KF
