I waded into the chat room last night to talk with Chris about an article I’d just written about 35 mile per gallon (MPG) cars and SUVs. The article’s a bit of an eye-opener in these economically troubled times, but it comes down to some little known facts and a strange twist of market fate. How strange, you ask?

Did you know that there are half a dozen diesel-powered 35 MPG vehicles that are manufactured here in North America right now, but cannot be sold to Americans? That’s 35 MPG combined …

Needless to say, the conversation caught fire. I didn’t have the faculties to follow the rapid fire stream of chat … the topic spurred quite a bit of controversy, it was late, and my eyes were just about done for the day. There was no way I could keep up with the comments.

So I copied and pasted the log, in order to more fully understand where folks were coming from.

While it seemed like a good many folks fully understood the benefits and realities of modern diesel engines - perhaps because of the international crowd - there was still an undercurrent of misunderstanding from the portion of the American audience that may have lacked the exposure to clean diesel technology.

Truth be told, I had never driven an diesel-powered vehicle (other than a backhoe, once or twice) until earlier this winter, when I spent two wonderful weeks with a diesel-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee. That experience only served to pique my interest in diesels, which lead to my doing the research on said article.

Needless to say, I’m sold on diesel. Hybrids can be fantastic in town, but out on the open road, over long distance, diesel is king …

Article: 35 MPG - Why Wait Until 2020?