VW hopes to make it impossible to accidentally fill a TDI with gas instead of diesel.
It’s the sort of problem that can plague anyone – even President Barack Obama, whose limousine broke down during a visit to Israel earlier this year.
It turned out that someone inadvertently filled up the tank of the armored Cadillac sedan – nicknamed “The Beast” – with diesel instead of gasoline. The two fuels don’t mix and that simply mistake can prove a costly one.
The problem occurs frequently and all over the world. A recent study found that British police run up nearly $2 million in repair bills each year pumping the wrong fuel into their cruisers.
And it’s an error becoming more and more common in the U.S. now that diesel-powered vehicles are rapidly gaining market share. At the worst, the mistake can run up several $1,000 dollars in repair bills.
That’s usually not covered by a manufacturer’s warranty, and that can cause a lot of ill will, even if it was the owner’s error. So, Volkswagen plans to take steps to minimize the problem.
The maker — which has been one of the most aggressive at pushing diesels in the U.S. – recently issued a service bulletin covering 209,500 vehicles sold in the U.S. and another 51,600 sold in Canada, according to the trade publication Automotive News. The move involves TDI versions of the 2009-12 Jetta and Jetta SportWagen, and the 2010-12 Golf.
“As diesel engine passenger vehicles become more popular, auto manufacturers have seen an increase in the number of misfueling cases where diesel engine vehicles are mistakenly fueled with gasoline,” the maker plans to advise customers. “The resulting fuel system contamination can lead to costly repairs that are not covered under warranty.”
The plan is to retrofit the older vehicles with the same modified fuel filler introduced on 2013 VW products. Because gas and diesel nozzles are a different size, the updated fuel tank gate won’t open if a motorist tries to pump the wrong fuel.
The problem is more severe for diesel owners because gasoline nozzles are smaller on U.S. pumps. Most modern gas-powered vehicles already can’t accept a diesel nozzle.
Volkswagen isn’t the only automaker vulnerable to the problem. Federal regulators have already received 160 such complaints.
And industry observers warn it could get worse without a fix as a growing number of manufacturers add diesels to their product lines. VW’s sibling brand Audi plans to launch four new “oil burners” for 2014. Chevrolet is preparing to introduce a diesel version of the Cruze sedan, and Mazda will soon add a diesel version of the new Mazda6 sedan.
Diesels are expected to reach at least 1% of the U.S. market this year, up from just 0.1% in 2008. But for some VW models, such as the Passat, the high-mileage powertrain technology now account for a quarter of U.S. sales. In Europe, where fuel can cost as much as $8 a gallon, diesels account for about half of the market.
The problem in the U.S. is both conditioning and inattentiveness. In Europe where Diesel vehielces account for up to 80% of all vehicles sold, it’s not a problem as consumers are educated enough to look at the pump and purchase the proper fuel.
In the U.S. where the EPA and Obama have done everything humanly possible to discourage the sales of clean Diesels, consumers are not use to actually driving Diesel powered autos, though HD trucks discovered the many benefits of Diesel power decades ago.
For the most part the U.S. needs to teach people to hang up their cellphone and pay attention to what they are doing when refueling their cars. Most people in the U.S. are literally zombies when operating a motorized vehicle. They do not pay attention to what they are doing be it driving or refueling. It’s a dangerous situation that needs to stop.
BTW, was it Joe Biden who refueled the Beast?
How about if the authorities just take away the licences of everyone that does this. They are obviously too stupid to drive.
I hope they’re not going to do something stupid that’ll make the big nozzles at some diesel pumps impossible to use! I drove the same diesel Mercedes for 24 years before selling it and buying a new VW diesel – nothing wrong with the car and got a good price for it – and I don’t think I’ll make a mistake with the fuel after all these years.