If you're waiting for a chance to test drive the first 50-state clean diesel car sold in the U.S., check it out: An AutoblogGreen reader the other day spotted a transporter filled with Jettas "festooned with TDI signage headed northbound on a North Carolina freeway." The report said that the reader called a local VW dealer, who confirmed that these were actually among the first batch of TDIs that will be available for test drives at dealers around North America—at least for the next couple of months before they go on sale later this summer.

"From the initial batch of 1,000 cars, each dealer will get one car initially and more will arrive through the course of the summer," the article said. "Volkswagen expects about half of the 15,000 Sportwagens for 2009 to be TDI powered with about 30-40 percent of the sedans." That's not a lot of Sportwagens, but it's a start, and 30 to 40 percent of sedans means tens of thousands of Jetta TDI sedans. Either way, the car promises to be a fun-to-drive, practical way to get over 40 mpg on a regular basis.