The EPA will put a stop to that before we get any.

Promising, though, if I ever trust diesel to be sold where I NEED it...

This would be a great chance for Citroen to get back into the US

Citroen has a long history of advanced technology (DS19 and DS21 were very impressive!), but I wouldn't own a Peugot. They may have been good years ago, but everything I've seen about them recently looks kind of crappy... :angry:

When they don't even mention a smog-related emission rating, that's usually a dead giveaway it's a shortcoming of the design... especially when carbon-dioxide emissions are pointed out several times.

The prototype is smaller and slower than Prius. So when you upscale to match the size of Prius, don't expect MPG to be all that impressive.

At least these new prototypes/concepts are attempting to deliver some type of electric-only drive. That's a "full" hybrid benefit that is quickly being accepted by the market as a "must have" feature.

"The engine, with the diesel particulate filter system (DPFS), meets Euro-4 standards."

End of story, as far as the US goes.

The car is only a prototype, but it looks *really* similar to the 2G Prius.

I have never fully grasped the utility of adding electric hybrid cost to a diesel, since that engine already has the pumping loss problem inherent to petrol engines solved. I wonder how much FE improvement they have in the hybrid version compared to a non-hybrid of the same vehicle, just diesel engine.

addendum: PSA reports ~ 30% improvement with the hybrid addition. I'm guessing that most of the difference is on the city side, due to the regen braking. We shall see, in 2010. But by then Toyota will have 3rd gen Prius on the road, and will be well into developing the 4th gen.

its just an press release to show they are working on it...

2 huge issues are the reason Toyota isnt doing passanger car hybrid diesel (keep in mind that Toyota is selling hybrid diesel van for 2 years).

1. Cost - 1.6 diesel costs $2,000-$3,000 USD more than 1.6 Petrol
2. Refinement - turning on and off diesel engine is a lot more violent than with an gas engine, it would be pretty annoying.

I either completely missed that or have already programmed myself to look for Euro-5 instead, which is the level that will specifically address some of the current shortcomings of diesel.

Whatever the case, "SULEV" (tier 2) is the minimum for a clean vehicle in the US. We see no mention of that.

The Citroen version will be the best oppourtunity for people who want a hybrid with rear fender skirts. I hope the waiting list is not too long.

:lol:

Peugeot bought Citroen many years ago - and they are now the same company - PSA.

http://www.psa-peugeot-citroen.com/en/night.php

Peugeot also announced a Diesel Hybid (essential the same car), the 307.

If you go to the site above, and click on the upper right corner of thet site, you will find a couple of videos.

One of the most enjoyable cars I've driven in recent years was a 2002, Peugeot 406 sedan. I drove it hard, A/C on almost all the time, often at 100mph. It hugged the road like it was married to it and got an average of 36 mpg for that month (approx 6000km). I really wanted to take it home and was sad to leave it behind.

It should also be noted that the "69MPG(US)" figure isn't based on the EPA cycle, but converted from whatever cycle they tested this vehicle on in Europe. I don't expect even this prototype to perform as well as a Prius.

Diesel hybrids! Gimmick!

For what it's worth, the Prius' scores on the European cycle are (converted to US mpg): 47mpg urban, 56 extra-urban, 55 combined.

It's based on the Euro combined cycle. For comparison, the Prius achieves 54.8 mpg (US) in this test, so the gimmicky diesel hybrid achieves 26% more mpgs than the Prius does.

What is Toyota planning for 2010 ?

Should have said earlier, the Citroen C4 has been on our roads looking like this for a good while now, so the car shape and styling is not a prototype. I think it came out about the same time as the Prius? I guess it's kind of inevitable that cars chasing the same rules of aerodynamics and packaging will end up looking similar.

Actually the French that I know say avoid Citroen and Peugeot makes the best French car-most popular taxis there.