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Originally Posted by UnknownJinX
Diesels are now impossible to market in passenger vehicles thanks to VW. Mention diesel in a passenger car and watch people run away from it because "it's dirty and probably cheats emission tests".
Besides, you know that diesel engines cost a lot, yeah? Practically all cars that come with a diesel option have the diesel engine as the most expensive one. They are very complicated to make emission-compliant, and they have to be tough to deal with the high compression ratio they run at. They may spit out less than a gas engine, but the stuff they spit out is far worse. Soot and NOx are not major items of concern with a gas engine, but they are with a diesel. NOx needs DEF in a diesel engine to keep in check, and that needs to be replenished to keep working.
It's just kinda pointless when you can just make a simple gas engine and have it run on Atkinson cycle, like Toyota. Plenty reliable, cheap, efficient and less fussy emission control.
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Your points are valid but mostly in reference to using the engine as a direct part of the driveline. To provide direct power to the wheels, and provide the ability to "rev" like a gasoline engine, there's a lot that has to be designed in and you get into situations where things like a turbo are an absolute necessity to provide direct torque to the wheels for towing (for example).
Using a very small diesel engine as nothing but a power generator (and feeding that power purely to keep the batteries charged) is very different and actually allows the engine to run in a significantly more efficient manner (constant RPM). And opting for diesel over gasoline is really a measure of less complexity, fewer overall parts, etc.