After the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal it seemed like the death of the diesel engine is the US was fast-approaching. It wasn't so much the fact that trust in the engine was lost, but more so that like the rotary engine, diesel technology had become too dirty to be used in modern times with tight emissions regulations. However, Mercedes isn't so ready to give up the fight for the gasoline alternative, and to prove it the brand just released new diesel engines that blow the competition away.

These engines are more powerful than the last generation of Merc diesels, but more impressively, they are also substantially cleaner. It almost seems too good to be true, as if Mercedes was pulling a move out of Volkswagen's playbook. Unlike Volkswagen however, Mercedes still installs all of the necessary emissions components like exhaust-gas recirculation and stepped combustion chambers. VW had simply claimed that superior engineering is what caused its cars to pass emissions with impressive mileage and performance figures. The part of Mercedes' design that makes the whole package so clever is the fact that it found a way to install these systems into the engine block itself.

This makes for packaging that is much more compact over the old systems that were placed under the car floor. The new engine will first be found in the new E-Class where it will return 74 mpg and emit 102 grams of CO2 per kilometer. By contrast, a Prius emits only a slightly smaller CO2 level of 91g/km. The new technology is a result of a $3.35 billion investment by Mercedes on diesel power plants. All of this amounts to one huge win for diesels. The new line of Mercedes engines not only meet emissions standards and redeem the brand, they keep the same emissions numbers during real world driving. It's unclear whether or not these will make it to the US, but it's promising tech like this that gives us hope for the future.