The problem with modern diesels

[dom14]

I would not like to be making or selling large caravans in near future as there will be no suitable vehicle to tow them any reasonable distance. Same for off road campers etc.
As electric vehicles take over, petrol and diesel will be more expensive as volumes decrease, especially in the cities.

Electric vehicles wont' take over that quick, unless we develop a good solar panel system to charge the batteries on the fly.
Regardless of heavy pollution & greenhouse effect, heavy diesel vehicles will continue, unless we develop newer technologies quicker. This is something we should've poured lot of money into to develop technologies, some fifty or more years ago.
We knew that we can't keep using fossil fuel forever, even in the early 1900's.

[Maxhead]

There has been some amazing technologies emerge but the oil companies buy the patent and bury it so they can sell more oil. Simple as that

[UncleFrosty]

Electric vehicles wont' take over that quick, unless we develop a good solar panel system to charge the batteries on the fly.

One minor problem with this @dom14 I suspect is that the sun only spits out about 1kW per square metre (1.3 to upper atmosphere at best) so to power mine, I'd need 70m2 of panels whilst driving. @Winnie would need 120m2, maybe more with the new pump!
Batteries are the answer to large m2 solar - but you'd have to be stationary to charge them - meaning all your driving would have to be done at night!
Even then, if you carry 10m2 of panels and charge for 12 hrs that'd only get you 120kWh, enough for an hour or two of gentle night driving - and that's assuming you get 100% conversion from the panels - which I think actual is less than 50%, if memory serves.
Which means liquid fuel is here to stay for a while. Biofuels will have to substitute for remote area driving once earthly sources are drained - or earlier if we work it out...

[UncleFrosty]

There has been some amazing technologies emerge but the oil companies buy the patent and bury it so they can sell more oil. Simple as that

Correct @Nisshead. The thing Big Oil fears most is innovation... Perhaps that's why the political donations system is in place???😉

[dom14]

There has been some amazing technologies emerge but the oil companies buy the patent and bury it so they can sell more oil. Simple as that

Abso-damn-lutely!!!

What governs our life(style), whether it's productive or destructive, IS the economic model(namely the extreme capitalism). In that model, large corporations & billionaires dictate how we live(and how we end), not the "politicians", scientists or philosophers or average Joe hard workers.

[dom14]

Correct @Nisshead. The thing Big Oil fears most is innovation... Perhaps that's why the political donations system is in place???��

And that's why they crushed all the EV-1's made by GM, without allowing anybody to keep them. I'm sure there are myriad other "technical" reasons they've had invented to explain that "crime".

[mudnut]

Ohhh. Another political thread

These guys are onto something. They could use solar powered manufacturing process to cook the stuff.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/christop.../#7b7442187245

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJq2Hc_mXFI And this old Gem.

[Clunk]

All I know, is my next vehicle will not be a diesel

[Maxhead]

All I know, is my next vehicle will not be a diesel

I can just see Clunk hitting the power-lines in a steam powered GQ...lol

[dom14]

Abso-damn-lutely!!!

What governs our life(style), whether it's productive or destructive, IS the economic model(namely the extreme capitalism). In that model, large corporations & billionaires dictate how we live(and how we end), not the "politicians", scientists or philosophers or average Joe hard workers.

P.S.

I forgot to mentions "artists" above. That is a serious shortage of insight on my part.