My local Land Rover dealer is the first car dealer in the country to buy carbon offsets for the first 50k miles of every new and used Landie they sell, in hopes of tempting green types into their Chelsea tractors. Now it seems that Land Rover has decided to offer more, erm, sustainable options for environmentally-minded ute lovers. LR is showing a new range of diesel hybrid engines at the London Auto Show. Motor Authority reports that Land Rover's new electric rear axle drive (ERAD) consists of a rear-axle mounted 25w electric motor which can power all four wheels in parallel with a four-cylinder diesel engine. The powertrain also includes a Crankshaft Integrated Starter Generator (CISG) mounted in the dual-clutch transmission, which acts as a supplementary motor for adding torque to the driveline and also for starting the main diesel engine. Both the ERAD and CISG can be used for regenerative braking, and together account for a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions. The ERAD/CISG system is still in early development, and is not expected to debut for several years. In the meantime, Land Rovers are expected to get stop-start technology as early as next year. Which hopefully means that Land Rover of Portland can end its gimmicky greenwashing campaign sooner rather than later.
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Rover’s new electric rear axle drive (ERAD) consists of a rear-axle mounted 25w electric motor which can power all four wheels
No offense, Edward, but might you check that watt number? Seems mighty low to me for an electric motor even at high voltages.
Thanks JT, a “k” slipped out somewhere. Per the linked MA story, continuous output is 25 kw, with a peak output of 35 kw.
Thanks for keeping us honest!
Combine that with stop start technology and the brand could soon have “greener” credentials.
“Buying carbon offsets” seems to me to be just an update of the medieval practice of “Indulgences”.
I imagine they have about the same net result.
–chuck
I personally think this is a very nice idea.
I fear the sales tactics, though, when you combine “lots of electrical complexity” with “British” with a “fuel that costs 25% more than gasoline.” Sounds like an uphill marketing battle.
“Buying carbon offsets” seems to me to be just an update of the medieval practice of “Indulgences”.
I think it’s a bit different since an indulgence is a “remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, the guilt of which has been forgiven”. An indulgence is not, as commonly assumed, forgiveness of the sin itself.
Lets say you commit a sin and have to say 50 Hail Marys and 20 Our Fathers. An indulgence could reduce or eliminate those Hail Marys and Our Fathers.
Also, the Church has never sold indulgences. There were some (without Church authority) in the time of Martin Luther who granted indulgences when someone would give money to specific funds or foundations, but that practice was condemned and forbidden by the Council of Trent in 1545.
Buying carbon offsets is basically a remission of the sin of emission…
No, I’d say a carbon offset is a “remission of the temporal punishment due to sin”. I pay a carbon offset so as not to be punished for emitting carbon dioxide by spending my free time planting 20 trees or by being forced to drive a 50 mpg vehicle. It doesn’t actually eliminate the emission (the sin in certain circles), though you could say forgiveness is implied. Of course, you could say the same thing about an indulgence (implied forgiveness). Finally, both are very visible representations, some might say hypochritical, of a persons “forgiveness.”
By the way, what happened to the biblical hermaneutics section of ttac? ;-)
Good for Tata moving the Land Rover ahead since Ford was too slow to do it. Back on my list now that this is closer to reality. The wife won’t let me take it off the list either. :)
No, I’d say a carbon offset is a “remission of the temporal punishment due to sin”. I pay a carbon offset so as not to be punished for emitting carbon dioxide by spending my free time planting 20 trees or by being forced to drive a 50 mpg vehicle
Since we don’t know how such laws would be set up, it’s hard to say how that would work, but you have a good point.
Of course, you could say the same thing about an indulgence (implied forgiveness).
Some may say or think that, but it is very clear that forgiveness is not contingent on the indulgence. Some people may not understand that or choose to purposely misstate it, but it doesn’t change the official teaching.
By the way, what happened to the biblical hermaneutics section of ttac? ;-)
Good question…
What’s funny (or sad?) is that I’m not even Catholic; I was raised Southern Baptist.
Just another gimmick to try and sell diesel power
as the cost of fuel spirals. Anyone who can afford this vehicle normally doesn’t give a stuff about carbon emissions – image is everything
The comments here about the cost of diesel only relate to the states. This vehicle was launched in london, europes prices of gas and diesel are much closer so makes even more sense there. 20% reduction in carbon emissions, plus an increase on the better mpg for diesel over gas mileage makes great sense if you’re in the market for this kind of vehicle. I guess the people against it here aren’t though.
I live in the Portland area also, and I almost coughed out my morning coffee the first time I heard this Land Rover ad. My first thought was “Boy, that’s gonna be a lot of carbon!”
Maybe Land Rover of Portland has a big pit somewhere, where they buy unburned coal and rebury it. Would this count as a ‘carbon offset’?
As if to add a double-whammy second punchline to their joke, the Land Rover dealer buys lots of air time on Portland’s green-leaning ‘Air America’ radio station, which spends much of its editorial time critiquing 12-mpg “Yank Tanks” and the automotive culture that spawned them.
I wonder how many of the listeners fall for it.