Green car buying guide

by Wayne Cunningham

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Click here to read our Green car buying guide

If you think buying a "green" car is as easy as picking the paint color, we've got news for you--there are different types of green and many different car choices. Are you trying to reduce smog and its attendant health risks, or are greenhouse gases and global climate change your biggest concern? And those aren't exclusive concerns, either. Amongst the types of cars you can choose, there are hybrids, PZEVs, SULEVs, flex fuel vehicles, natural gas vehicles, and even diesels. We also take a look at future technologies that are in heavy development and could the be cars of the future.

Click here to read our Green car buying guide.

Topics:: Hybrids and green

Tags:: electric,; bio-diesel,; diesel,; hybrid,; fuel cell

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by nbemiller May 14, 2008 9:44 PM PDT

a gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. gasoline is not as dense as water (which is why gas slicks float on top of puddles). a gallon of gasoline cannot produce 18 pounds of CO2 per gallon. Don't get me wrong, my next car is a going to be a hybrid, but we might as well get the facts straight.

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by Pishkado May 15, 2008 8:00 AM PDT: Please review high-school chemistry. Combustion creates CO2 from one atom of carbon (from gasoline, weight 12 AUs) and two atoms of oxygen (from air, weight 16 AUs each). Of course the CO2 weighs more than the gasoline that went into part of it. It weighs less than 11/3 as much because gasoline isn't pure carbon and combustion isn't perfect.


by Pishkado May 15, 2008 5:45 AM PDT: This leaves out the most important factors in reducing the environmental impact of automobile use: not buying more car than you need and then driving it sensibly (which I concede equates to "boringly" for some people). The "greenest" hybrid SUV still uses more fuel than a compact car, to say nothing of more resources needed to manufacture it and maintain it throughout its lifetime. Ditto for diesel and most other alternative means of propulsion. (Electricity comes from somewhere, too.) I realize this column wasn't about that, but anyone who discusses "green" driving and doesn't at least mention that at the outset misses a big part of the picture and doesn't put the topic into perspective for readers.; Reply to this comment


by melvin20080 September 10, 2008 12:41 AM PDT: The green car covers hybrid and electric cars, alternative fuels, fuel cells, about ethanol, biodiesel, and cars powered by hydrogen. The green car unites owners and enthusiasts of environmentally cleaner cars.
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