Honda Bringing 62.8 MPG Diesel to the US by 2010

Image courtesy Diesel Technology Forum

These aren't words TreeHugger has ever had the pleasure to put in the same sentence before: diesel, Honda, United States, 62.8 miles per gallon, the year 2010. Ahh, that feels good. If this report from CNET is to be believed, it's all true: Honda plans to bring a clean-diesel Accord to the States by the year 2010, where it will get 62.8 mpg (on the highway, give or take) and pretty much kick ass.

The problem, mostly, to this point, has been that diesel engines produce and emit too much pollution to pass air-quality & emissions tests. That all started to change with the introduction of ultra-low sulfur diesel to the States, but automakers have been slow to assimilate. The introduction of a car like this is great news for TreeHuggers in the US: consumers can get hybrid-like (or better!) mileage from a conventionally-priced car and can further curb greenhouse gas and particulate emissions (and say so long to foreign oil) by pumping some biodiesel into the tank. Could the US be the new Europe (where half the cars run on diesel)? This could be the first step in the right direction. ::Diesel Technology Forum via ::CNET