Man, I want an oil burner.

Mercedes says it will start to roll out diesel vehicles (suv's to begin with) that meet the most stringent pollution regs in America (ie. those of California) in 2008. Honda says that their "clean" diesel will be an option on many of it's cars in 2009. Even GM has a big V8 low emissions diesel that they should begin offering that year (assuming that there still is a GM by then.) These cars should get mileage equivalent to hybrids in most driving conditions (not quite as good in city driving, better on the highway) and be quite a bit cheaper to buy. In addition, being diesels they can run forever, and not need to get periodic battery replacements like hybrids.

In the end, the real reason diesels are a better technology is their ability to run on biodiesel. One reason that some of the more innovative ways of creating biodiesel have had a hard time getting traction is that they are very capital intensive, and the market for consumer diesel is relatively small. As that market increases, these technologies start to make more economic sense, giving a boost to the research. Enough biodiesel could be made to put a dent in our oil imports which could give the US an opportunity to keep more of its money at home.

Ok, so lower trade deficit, less political pressure to engage with volatile regions and improved environmental standards aside, why do I want a diesel?

I want a car that smells like french fries.