State Lawmakers Line-Up to Drive New Clean Diesels at NCSL Convo

Washington DC August 21, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that more than 100 state legislators from across the country lined up to wait their turn to get behind the wheel of a new clean diesel vehicle during the Diesel Technology Forum's Ride & Drive at the National Conference of State Legislatures convention in Nashville Aug. 16-17.

Lawmakers were nearly uniformly impressed with the performance, ride, responsiveness, clean emissions and fuel efficiency of the vehicles, which included the Mercedes-Benz 320 CDI, BMW X-5 and 535 diesel, Audi A8TDI, VW Jetta, smart For Two, Honda Accord diesel and others.

Diesel cars achieve a 20-40 percent improvement in fuel economy over gasoline vehicles, helping to ease consumer pain at the pump.

Ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel will be available nationwide beginning Oct. 15, which will be 97 percent cleaner than previous diesel fuel.

The new fuel, which is an environmental milestone on par with removing lead from gasoline, will lead to a new generation of ultra-clean diesel trucks, buses and cars.

J.D. Power & Associates projects new diesel cars could increase their market share in the U.S. by 300 percent by 2015. For more information, go to www.dieselforum.org.