Those PZEV logos are appearing all over the place on the backs of some cars in the Bay Area. A Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle makes no claim about carbon dioxide emissions, but it does pretty good with regular old air pollution.
It’s complicated, but if it costs Subaru $1500 to upgrade a Legacy or Outback to PZEV status and they only charge you $200 extra, well that sounds all right.
Fair enough.
It seems Volkswagen is making progress with fuel cell technology. VW dropped by a few places in the bay area this past week to show off their latest effort in the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. VW just happens to be introducing their “Tiguan” (tiger plus iguana, in German) crossover vehicle soon, so why not put this experimental propulsion technology in the latest platform?
CNET was there at the W Hotel and they took some photos. Wired also took some shots, plus they have a nice rundown on the whole affair.
This Tiguan uses hydrogen fuel cell technology, which differs from what BMW has done with hydrogen so far. BMW’s approach is to just modify a typical internal combustion engine so that it will accept either gasoline or hydrogen. Comedian Jay Leno explains. But this method comes with its downsides.
VW was also pleased to show off the new fifty-state-legal Jetta TDI diesel. You can’t hardly tell it’s a diesel. Look to see lots of these TDI cars on the streets of San Francisco soon. It seems everyone who owns a TDI just raves about this high-MPG technology.
Invizabul driver in the SOMA. This new 50-state-legal Jetta has plenty of power and very high MPG - perhaps you’d prefer this VW over the slightly larger and more expensive Toyota Prius hybrid?
And let’s not forget about the Jetta TDI Cup Race, which shows the young’uns that diesel engines have come a long way since the bad old days. It’s the first clean diesel racing series evah.
A speedy TDI at the yummy XYZ restaurant in San Francisco.
VW says that their hydrogen fuel cell technology is seven to ten years away from being available. The sooner the better.