[jyl]

Are the Japanese behind on diesel technology?

Asking, I don't have any idea, but notice that you don't hear much about Toyota, Honda, etc diesels.

The other direction I like is the plug-in hybrid.

Some Prius owners have installed the Hymotion auxiliary battery pack and mods which give the car appx 40 mile range on battery alone. They charge from household 110v each night. When the car is driving from the aux battery, they get >100 mpg (the gas engine will still kick in if the throttle is pressed far enough). When the aux battery is discharged, the car drives like a normal Prius. Depending on commute length, these drivers are reporting appx 80 mpg average. For us, daily driving is about 20-40 miles and with a similar system, we might buy gasoline once every other month. The electricity costs something, but much less than pump gasoline.

I can see a diesel-plugin-hybrid making the current Prius look like a gas guzzler. "Only 44 mpg?" we'll laugh, "my 2011 Toyota-Benz hybrid diesel plugin gets 150 mpg and I charge it from the house's solar panels . . . "