Diesel Car Sets Fuel Sipping World Record

On October 3, 2010, a Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion clean diesel car driven by Gavin Conway, a journalist from The Sunday Times, set a new Guinness World Record for the distance travelled by a production passenger car on a single tank of fuel. The vehicle uses a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder TDI engine. In setting the record, the Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion travelled a distance of 1,531-miles on a route that started in Maidstone in the U.K., went to the South of France and back. In total, 20.4 gallons of diesel was used on the trip, resulting in a total of 90 mpg – well beyond the claimed 64.2-mpg rating for the car.

With these stunning results, clean diesel vehicles clearly have the potential to lead innovation in future technology results. Today’s clean diesel vehicles offer 30 percent better fuel economy than comparable gasoline passenger vehicles, allowing drivers to travel upwards of 400 highway miles between fuelings. Unlike some new technologies under development, clean diesel is available today. No new government investment in infrastructure is needed. The auto industry has already developed the engine technology and more than 40 percent of all fuel retailers offer diesel pumps in the U.S. today, making the fuel available at more than 80,000 unique distribution points.