Yes, I'd second that,,,
Diesel hybrid please!

looks worse than better...they were going in a good direction on style but now they took a step backward. the 07 civics are very stylish and i thought the accords would be larger versions with subtle differences.

I know that diesel doesn't have to be petroleum based, but currently that is the majority of what is available. Doing away with the hybrid model seems to me like a step in the wrong direction.

Personally, I am waiting for a plug-in hybrid to be released for my next car since I rarely travel a distance that would require gasoline. However, it seems that auto manufacturers would rather keep petroleum based fuels the main source for cars, so my next vehicle may have to be a bike. *sigh*

A plug-in hybrid isn't anywhere near production, or even the drawing boards of these companies. I also don't think the US power grid could support hundreds of thousands of plug-in cars.

Why not just go for a Prius since you rarely travel distances that require gasoline?

I'm with the first poster, turbo diesel hybrids. Maximum effeciency in town and on the freeway.

Yeah, plug in hybrids sure are nice to the enviroment.
A fair amount of electricity is generated through coal use.
But hey, if your not the one burning it, its ok, eh?

actaully, you can get a plug in hybrid if you know where to look. the Hymotion kits for the prius are available.

I hope that grill is a fake placeholder for something that looks good. It's like they just ripped it off of a Cadillac.

Hybrids are good, but they only delay the inevitable when oil supplies dry up or are overly expensive to obtain. I wish (a big wish) engines had the ability to use gasoline and hydrogen. That way a clean, renewable fuel was an opion, and assuming Hydrogen was competitively priced it would force gas prices down to compete (not to mention a possible gas surplus to cause prices to drop too).

*Sigh* But people with "crossover" engine ideas like mine will probably be killed by people who wants to keep the idea quiet. *Ahem*, so if anyone is reading this, my name is George Bush. :-)

Actually, diesels are somewhat of a "crossover" engine. They can run on biodiesel, which is completely renewable and much safer to transport than highly pressurized hydrogen.

I think diesels are much better than hybrids. The get as good or better mileage, they are proven reliable, they are much cheaper to produce than hybrids and there is no ecological time bomb from batteries.

Diesel-Hybrids do already exist in some forms. I've seen buses that are Diesel-Hybrids. Let's hope that the cost of those systems get to an economically feasible level soon.

Or we could all blame George Bush for every problem the world has experienced for the last 500 years and not actually do anything to solve the problems.

I believe the diesel version would be a good step in the right direction. Now if they would develope a bit more on that and set them to use bio diesel it would be superb. Diesel Trucks (tractor trailers) are already converting over and it would be great to see cars do it as well. Biodiesel is a replenishable fuel source and the jobs created from the demand for it would be a nice boost to the economy.

diesel engines need no modification to burn bio-diesel.
(btw, veg oil is not bio diesel)

we need to get off of the ethanol (read huge farm subsidy) bandwagon and really look into making biodiesel. in the short term, it is a much better alternative to ethanol, and the farmers still get something out of it.

diesels here in north america - its about frekin' time - congrats to vw to still offer it here in north america all these years

who would like to have their hybrid need repairs while travelling? what garage would touch it? as for diesel engines, they've been around for years

Every model should have diesel - and not limited to entry models either!

"I wish (a big wish) engines had the ability to use gasoline and hydrogen."

There is a company who's had one for 30 years now - BMW. They've even taken some on press tours around the country. It has two tanks, one for gasoline, one for liquid hydrogen. The ECU just changes settings when you switch fuels.

Ethanol: being pushed big time by the corn farmers and politicians. It actually takes as much energy to produce ethanol as you get from burning it. Ethanol cannot be piped since it deteriorates so it's trucked vast distances, corn requires petroleum based pesticides and fertilizers and food prices go up because farmland is used to grow corn for fuel instead of other grains which affects bread, beef, etc. prices

Electricity: as noted by a previous poster, much of the world's electricity is generated by burning coal which is one of the leading causes of global warming. Solar and wind power are great...when it's sunny and windy but they are niche power sources at the moment. Nuclear energy is friendly to the environment except for the waste products and the off chance that your local plant might melt down one day (nah, that could never happen) and contaminate vast areas of lands for a millennium.

Hydrogen: burns clean and generates water as waste. Unfortunately, generating large amounts of pressurized hydrogen requires...you guessed it, a LOT of energy which typically comes from coal generated electricity or burning petroleum resources.

Short term solution: raise oil prices and drive less. Ouch!

Don't be surprised if the lack of diesel cars in the US is the result of a conspiracy between the oil companies and the government.

It's funny to see the price of gasoline bob up and down yet the price of diesel tends to stay the same over the same period. Clearly, the US wants you to buy gasoline, that is what makes the oil companies rich. Any increased desel demand would result in converting refining capacity, which would cut into the billion dollar profits of the oil companies.

People pay $4/gallon because they are forced to. But with diesel available for $3 at some places, who is really to blame?

Answer: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave

Don't be surprised if the lack of diesel cars in the US is the result of a conspiracy between the oil companies and the government.

It's funny to see the price of gasoline bob up and down yet the price of diesel tends to stay the same over the same period. Clearly, the US wants you to buy gasoline, that is what makes the oil companies rich. Any increased diesel demand would result in converting refining capacity, which would cut into the billion dollar profits of the oil companies.

People pay $4/gallon because they are forced to. But with diesel available for $3 at some places, who is really to blame?

Answer: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave

Diesel cars have not been sold in large numbers in the US because people did not want to buy them. The "old tech" diesels were smelly loud and hard to start in cold weather.

New diesel engines use high pressure fuel injection systems that burn the fuel much more cleanly and get 40% more power from a gallon of fuel than a gasoline engine.

Starting September of 2006 a new diesel fuel standard requires all US diesel fuel to be much lower in sulfur. The low sulfur fuel allows catalytic converters that will make it possible for diesels run as cleanly as gasoline engines. Europe has been on the low sulfur diesel fuel for several years and 50% of new cars sold in Europe run on diesel fuel.

Bio diesel is fuel made from plants, most bio diesel is made from soy bean oil or canola oil but any oil will work. A few additives are used to thin the oil so it flows with the right viscosity.

Bio diesel is available at many truck stops and regular gas stations around the country and it usually costs less than or the same as regular diesel. It is often sold as a mix of bio and regular diesel, B5 is 5% etc. B5,B20 and B100 are the most popular.

Bio diesel does not contribute to global warming because growing the plants to make the oil removes c02 from the atmosphere, the c02 gets released when the fuel is burned. Bio fuel is a type of solar energy because the plants get the energy from the sun. Bio diesel is competitive in cost with imported oil but the money goes to local farmers.