WEBVTT - Why do most cars use gasoline instead of diesel?

0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.640
<v Speaker 1>Jack Threads is the online shopping destination for dudes. Everything

0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:05.600
<v Speaker 1>on the side is up to eight percent off. All

0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:08.920
<v Speaker 1>styles are curated, so buyer's remorse just doesn't happen. What's

0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:10.920
<v Speaker 1>more is if you were brain stuff, you can skip

0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:13.520
<v Speaker 1>the membership weight list and get instant access at jack

0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:17.279
<v Speaker 1>threads dot com slash stuff. Welcome to brain Stuff from

0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:27.920
<v Speaker 1>house stuff works dot com where smart happens. Hi Am

0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:32.200
<v Speaker 1>Marshall Brain with today's question. If diesel engines are more efficient,

0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:37.040
<v Speaker 1>then why do most cars have gasoline engines. Diesel engines

0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:39.800
<v Speaker 1>have never really caught on in passenger cars in the

0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:43.960
<v Speaker 1>United States. During the late nineties seventies, diesel engines and

0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:47.280
<v Speaker 1>passenger cars did see a surgeon sales because of the

0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.919
<v Speaker 1>OPEC oil embargo. Over half a million diesel cars were

0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.040
<v Speaker 1>sold in the US, but that is the only significant

0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.960
<v Speaker 1>penetration that diesel engines have made in the marketplace. Even

0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:01.440
<v Speaker 1>though they are more efficient, there are historical problems that

0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:06.160
<v Speaker 1>have held diesel engines back. First, diesel engines have much

0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:10.200
<v Speaker 1>higher compression ratios. The compression ratio of twenty to one

0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:13.280
<v Speaker 1>is typical for a diesel versus eight to one for

0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:18.160
<v Speaker 1>a typical gasoline engine. That compression ratio makes diesel engines

0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:23.720
<v Speaker 1>heavier than an equivalent gasoline engine. Second, diesel engines also

0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:28.160
<v Speaker 1>tend to be more expensive. Third, diesel engines, because of

0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:31.640
<v Speaker 1>the weight and the compression ratio, tend to have lower

0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:36.360
<v Speaker 1>maximum rpm rages than gasoline engines. This makes diesel engines

0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:40.560
<v Speaker 1>high torque rather than high horsepower, and that tends to

0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:45.720
<v Speaker 1>make diesel engines slower in terms of acceleration. Fourth, diesel

0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:49.160
<v Speaker 1>engines tend to produce more smoke, and they tend to

0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:53.600
<v Speaker 1>smell funny. Although modern designs and modern fuels have greatly

0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:58.240
<v Speaker 1>reduced the problem, the perception persists. Fifth diesel engines can

0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:00.800
<v Speaker 1>be harder to start in cold weather, and if they

0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:04.400
<v Speaker 1>contain globe plugs, diesel engines can require you to wait

0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:08.440
<v Speaker 1>before starting the engines so the globe plugs can heat up. Sixth,

0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.520
<v Speaker 1>diesel engines tend to be noisier and tend to vibrate more,

0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:16.960
<v Speaker 1>although modern engine designs are fixing these problems as well. Seventh,

0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:21.240
<v Speaker 1>diesel fuel is less readily available than gasoline, especially in

0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:25.760
<v Speaker 1>urban areas. One or two of these disadvantages might be okay,

0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.480
<v Speaker 1>but a group of disadvantages this large is a big

0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.880
<v Speaker 1>deterrent for lots of people. The two things working in

0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:36.480
<v Speaker 1>favor of diesel engines are better fuel economy and longer

0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:39.960
<v Speaker 1>engine life. Both of these advantages mean that over the

0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.640
<v Speaker 1>life of the engine, you will tend to save money

0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.760
<v Speaker 1>with a diesel. However, you also have to take the

0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:49.080
<v Speaker 1>initial high cost of the engine into account. You have

0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.760
<v Speaker 1>to own and operate a diesel engine for a fairly

0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:55.560
<v Speaker 1>long time before the fuel economy overcomes the increased purchase

0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:58.800
<v Speaker 1>price of the engine. The equation works great and a

0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:02.400
<v Speaker 1>big diesel track or trailer rig that's running four hundred

0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.320
<v Speaker 1>or five hundred miles every day, but it's not nearly

0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:09.120
<v Speaker 1>so beneficial in a typical passenger car. Many of the

0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:13.360
<v Speaker 1>new diesel engine designs using advanced computer control are eliminating

0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:17.639
<v Speaker 1>many of these disadvantages. Smoke, noise, vibration, and costs are

0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:20.960
<v Speaker 1>all declining. In the future, we're likely to see more

0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:24.680
<v Speaker 1>diesel engines on the road. For more on this and

0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.320
<v Speaker 1>thousands of other topics. Because it how stuff works, dot

0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:34.600
<v Speaker 1>com Jack Threads is the online shopping destination for dudes.

0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.480
<v Speaker 1>Everything on the side is up to off. All styles

0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.640
<v Speaker 1>are curated so buyer's remorse just doesn't happen. What's more

0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:42.480
<v Speaker 1>is if you were brain Stuff, you can skip the

0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.360
<v Speaker 1>membership weight list and get instant access at jack threads

0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:46.600
<v Speaker 1>dot com slash stuff