G.Michael Murphy.
I am not sure what I am ignorant about. You cannot possibly make up the difference in cost between the 21 mpg car and the $36,000 Volt, purchase of solar panels, and the charger. I am guessing that your 21 mpg car had devalued as much as it can. It was free transportation. Your Volt started losing value as soon as you drove it off the lot. Your car is not a pure e- car. A Nissan Leaf is a pure e- car...nice review (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2011-nissan-leaf-sl-short-take-road-test). Its practical range sux. I haven't stated anything that wasn't true. Enlighten me on where I got it wrong.

People don't hate diesels. They just don't know any better. Most Americans associate diesels with pick-up trucks and industrial trucks. They are around diesel cars all the time but don't know it because the cars are quiet. My mother-in-law became a convert when I took her for a ride in my TDI and showed the average mpg. A combination of not knowing about hybrids' dirty (no pun intended) little secret and ignorance toward diesels will stunt the diesel engine option in America.

Whats weird is that all three cars use the exact same engine. Anyone know why one needs the urea and the other two don't?

I guess I have to chime in, too. The Passat TDI needs the urea injection. The Golf TDI does not. As for mpg, when I drive my Golf TDI conservatively in town, I get about 45 mpg. Freeway driving ranges 50 to 70 mpg (no kidding!). It helps that everywhere I drive is flat. Overpasses kill the gas mileages.

An article with unusual insight (no pun intended) on the future of hybrids that reflect actual decisions on what people are buying:

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/04/hybrids_once_was_enough_for_most.html

I was referring to people that buy a new car every two years. It can be very smart to buy a used car unless you get a lemon. My point is that so many people replace their year-old Prius with a new Prius that loses a lot of its value as they drive it off the dealership lot. It is pointless to try to save money on gas when new car owners lose money by constantly trading it in. This is great for you but doesn't make sense for new car buyers that are supposedly buying it to save gas/money/the world. That is the nature of the car business. Their loss is your gain, though.

Doesn't trading in a hybrid for another hybrid defeat the whole point of driving a hybrid in the first place? Unless you have driven the wheels off your Prius, you really haven't gotten your money's worth out of the car. I will have to drive my Golf TDI about 55,000 miles before I offset the cost of the diesel engine upgrade. I drive my cars until they are unsafe to drive and cost too much to repair, so I will get my money back (Continued below).

Unless the country has an epiphany and trades fuel sippers like the immensely popular Honda Fit in for a relatively meager gain in fuel efficiency, the Toyota Prius is doomed. Hybrids require a loyalty, or they fade away. If Prius owners are trading their car in every two years, they are throwing any cash saved away and are hurting the environment by wasting resources and energy required to make a new Prius.

It also wasn't intended for people that have life threatening emergencies, forgetful people (forget to plug the thing in), people that like to organize their time around events, family outings, and going to work rather than charge time. I guess that leaves only Greenies that think they are saving the world when they are really just burning coal and natural gas instead of gasoline.

I have already started writing a book of excuses to tell the boss man why you forgot to plug the car in last night and will miss work for the day. Bicycle sales will go up in conjunction to sales of electric cars. How's that for foretelling the future?