Hybrids and diesels rule in La-La  Land this year . . .

We just returned from making the rounds at the LA Auto Show, and while there wasn’t a heckuva lot of new 4x4 news to be learned, a few things did catch our attention there this year.

Understandably, things were quiet at the Chrysler booth, but the new Jeep Wrangler EV was only public display for the first time. At first glance a regular Unlimited, the “extended range” Wrangler used a 269hp electric motor and lithium-iron battery to provide 40 miles of non-fueled propulsion, and working in tandem with the V-6 gas motor, is said to be able to provide a cruising range of 400 miles per tank of gas. Given the V-6’s nominally crappy mileage (the one we tested in our long-term two-door JK barely delivered 15 mpg), we’d say this was a fairly welcome development.

Next up: Lexus. Now take our word for it---Lexus rigs are surprisingly capable in the dirt, and while the new gas-hybrid RX 450h is an AWD rig (no low-range), we suspect it’ll handle a lot of terrain you wouldn’t normally expect from such a vehicle. We’ll testdrive one next month, but for now, we can say that the new Lex’ is powered by a newly redesigned Atkinson-style 3.5L V-6 and a new inverter which is said to provide close to 300 hp while still delivering 26 mpg highway. Hey, sign us up!

The dudes at Volkswagen took the wraps off their 2009 Touareg 2, now sporting a new 3.3L V-6 TDI engine that’s said to pump out 400 ft-lb and 25 mpg. Not too shabby, though we managed to log consistent 23mpg tankfuls with our much-larger 5.0L V-10 model a couple of years ago. Then again, the new V-6 is 50-state (i.e., California) legal; our V-10 wasn’t.

Also on display at the VW booth was Mark Miller’s whompin’ all-new badass 5.5L V-12 TDI Touareg Trophy Turck, which will be applying its 550+ hp and Lord-knows-how-much torque to the wilds of Baja this weekend at La Mil. A downsized version of this rig won the 500 last year without requiring a single stop for fuel, and this latest rig was one of the biggest applause-getters at this year’s LA show.