|
Driving Green, Green Car Ratings – Navigating the Confusion
October 22, 2007, InvestorIdeas.com, Delta, B.C.
By Dawn Van Zant
Welcome to this week's edition of Driving Green at InvestorIdeas.com
advertisement
As consumers, myself included, search for their next car and try to make an educated choice in purchasing a green or environmentally friendly car- there are a lot of car-rating sites to sift through. There are a lot of opinions and several rating systems that may confuse newbie green consumers.
There is the Yahoo! Autos Green Car ( autos.yahoo.com/ green_center) rating, listing the top 100 cars. Here are some of the leaders on their list: leading the pack, the 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid CVT Electric with 51/49 mpg, the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring 86 Hybrid - Electric with 51/60 mpg, the 2007 Honda Civic GX 5-Spd AT 85 Natural Gas with 39/28 mpg, the 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid 4-Door Sedan with 38/40 mpg , the 2007 Ford Focus 5-Door Hatchback SES with 37/27 mpg, the 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid FWD Hybrid - Electric with 31/36 mpg, the 2007 Toyota Yaris S with 39/34 mpg and some other non hybrid top cars being the 2007 MINI Cooper HT 76 with 40/32 mpg , the Hyundai Elantra Limited and the 2007 Honda Fit Sport 5-Spd with 38/33 – one my 21 year old daughter has fallen for – obviously appealing to the younger demographics.
Then I read Tree Huggers “Top 10 Sexiest Green Cars”, for a more discerning and affluent green consumer naming their top ten as: 1. Tesla Roadster, 2. Lighting, 3. Venturi Fetish, 4. Eco One, 5. PML Mini QED, 6. Audi R10 TDI, 7. Lola B2K, 8. Zap-X, 9. Aurora and 10. Smartuki.
You can find the list and review at: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/top_10_sexiest.php
There is also the MSN Green Auto rating, listing the top 5 green vehicles most popular hybrids- 1. Toyota Prius 2. Toyota Camry Hybrid, 3. Ford Escape Hybrid, 4. Honda Civic Hybrid and
5. Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
According to the MSN Green site – “If gas prices climb, just 7% of Americans will consider buying a more fuel-efficient vehicle (data from MSN/Zogby Poll)”. I think those numbers need to change drastically.
I think you need to look at what you can afford, the fuel efficiency, consumer ratings and if you have made a significant improvement on fuel efficiency from your current and previous vehicle- then you are on the right path to greener highways. If we don’t our rating as a species could be “E’ for extinct.
To research our full list of Green Automotive Stocks - visit our stock directory at RenewableEnergyStocks.com.
http://www.renewableenergystocks.com/Companies/RenewableEnergy/stock_list.asp
I welcome ideas, suggestions and feedback as we travel together on the green highway.
dvanzant@investorideas.com
Please read our full disclaimer at InvestorIdeas.com
http://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp and the driving green Podcast page
http://www.renewableenergystocks.com/dg/default.asp
|
