Alternative Fuel Battle: Diesel vs. Ethanol (The Wall Street Journal Blogs Detroit)

The Wall Street Journal is blogging from the
North American International Auto Show, Detroit.

The headline above is from this post:

One of the somewhat surprising themes of this year’s auto show is the revival of diesel engines. Daimler, BMW, Land Rover all have diesels engines at the show. BMW plans to begin selling diesel-powered versions of its 3-Series and 5-Series vehicles later this year.

Even Ford says it’ll offer a diesel in the F-150 pickup– in 2010.

Honda is also showing off a diesel engine it plans to put in an Acura-branded vehicles next year, and a Honda the following year....MORE

Here's another one from Sunday:

GM’s Lutz Says Battery Testing Is ‘Going Well’

A few days after the Journal published a story saying there are substantial challenges to lithium-ion battery technology, that could hinder the development of the Chevrolet Volt concept into a production car, GM Product Chief Bob Lutz fired back.

“All of the battery testing is going well,” Mr. Lutz insisted. He said a lot of the confusion surrounding lithium-ion batteries, including the various chemical combinations that go into making the batteries.

The prevailing current technology, for instance, relies on cobalt. Mr. Lutz concedes this technology could lead to “thermal runaway,” or a rapid increase in heat, potentially sparking a fire. He said GM is focused on some other strategies, including nano phosphates and manganese....

If the U.S. industry survives the next five years the opportunities are huge.

Here's the Wall Street Journal's Auto Show Tracker.