Buying Guides

  • 2014 Mitsubishi i-MiEV

    The Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car has been around in one form or another for several years now, so there's a lot of information to keep track of. Once simply known as the Mitsubishi 'i', the tiny egg-shaped electric car, with four doors and four seats, has been on sale for several years now U.S. but has never really sold in high volumes. With a starting price of $23,845 before federal and local incentives (and after Mitsubishi's $850 destination and handling fee), the diminutive i-MiEV is one of the cheapest electric cars available. It also carries an EPA rating of 112 MPG equivalent - only...

  • 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid
    Ford Hybrid Cars: Fusion, C-Max, Escape And More, Ultimate Guide

    Ten years ago, your choice of hybrid vehicles was pretty limited. A lot has changed in those ten years, and the rise of Ford as a real force in the hybrid markets is one of the biggest changes. 2004 saw the launch of its very first hybrid, the 2005 Escape Hybrid, and the maker's cars have gone from...

  • 2012, 2013, and 2014 Toyota Prius
    Toyota Prius Hybrid: Ultimate Guide To 50-MPG Mid-Size Hatchback

    Toyota's Prius hybrid has undoubtedly done more to raise awareness of green vehicles and improving fuel efficiency than any other single model on sale today. First launched in the U.S. in 1999 and styled by a design team in California, the Prius name has since been applied to two further...

  • 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage ES  -  Driven, April 2014
    Cheapest MPG You Can Buy: What Cars Give Lowest-Cost Mileage?

    There are some pretty efficient cars on sale these days, but it's fair to say that to benefit from the technology, you often have to spend a little more to start with. What if you want to spend as little as possible on fuel, but spend as little as possible on the car itself too? That's where...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel
    2014 Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel: Ultimate Guide

    Joining the Chevrolet Cruze Eco in the carmaker's greener, less consumptive vehicle lineup, the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel has been one of Chevy's most eagerly-awaited models. The car has featured several times before on Green Car Reports, so below you can find all our previous coverage on the...

  • 2014 Audi Q5 TDI, Catskill Mountains, Oct 2013
    New Diesel SUVs & Crossovers: Jeep, Audi, Mercedes, VW Fuel Economy Tested: UPDATED

    You read a lot about hybrids and electric cars these days, but fuel-efficient diesel engines will be coming in certain classes of cars this year and in the future. The most recent crop of diesel launches has been in the crossover utility vehicle class, of which we've now driven three different...

  • 2012 Ford Focus Electric, New York City, April 2012

    The 2014 Ford Focus Electric is already available in select parts of the U.S. -- and to answer all your questions about Ford’s first mass-produced all-electric car here’s our ultimate guide to the Ford Focus Electric. For our guide, we’ve hand-picked the best information about the five-seat hatchback, detailing everything from its debut through to its pedestrian warning system, its in-car telematics and even the occasional celebrity appearance. To keep up with the latest information, don’t forget to bookmark this page and visit it regularly. Alternatively, you can...

  • 2014 Honda Civic
    Honda Civic, Hybrid & Natural Gas: Ultimate Guide

    The Honda Civic originally made its name in the 1970s, arriving at the perfect time to attract tens of thousands of customers scared out of larger, thirstier vehicles by the oil crisis. Four decades down the line and the Civic still has a reputation as a gas sipper, though the modern car is...

  • 2013 Chevrolet Volt  -  Driven, December 2012
    Chevrolet Volt: Range-Extended Electric Car Ultimate Guide

    The Chevrolet Volt range-extended electric car has been on sale since December 2010--but it's still one of the most popular electric vehicles on sale. At the moment, the Chevy Volt is fairly unique in the plug-in car market, in that it's neither a traditional hybrid vehicle, nor a full...

  • Audi R8 e-tron track drive, Berlin Tempelhof Airport
    Audi's e-tron Plug-In And Electric Cars: Ultimate Guide

    If you're confused when someone says "Audi e-tron," and you're not sure which electric car it means, don't feel bad--we're confused too. Audi may have more branded electric car concepts, prototypes, test vehicles, limited-production cars, and planned volume-production plug-in electric models than...

  • 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, March 2014
    All-Wheel-Drive Hybrids: Hybrid SUVs, Crossovers With AWD Ultimate Guide

    So you want a hybrid car, with its high gas mileage and maybe some all-electric running--but you also need all-wheel drive. What are your options? The question came to mind after testing the 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid, the small Japanese brand's first-ever hybrid, which comes standard with...

  • 2013 Honda CR-Z hybrid coupe [UK specification]
    2014 Honda Hybrid Cars: Ultimate Guide

    Japanese automaker Honda has been in the hybrid game from the very start, releasing the quirky, two-seat Insight back in 1999. Since then, the company has sold a variety of other hybrid models, and currently offers four to U.S. consumers. We've compiled reviews and articles for each Honda hybrid to...

  • 2001 Honda Insight

    If you've been reading Green Car Reports over the past week, you might have seen we recently bought a 2001 Honda Insight--an example of one of the first hybrids sold by a major automaker. But what if you want to buy your own early Insight? What do you need to look out for? And more importantly, should you buy one over a 2001-2003 Toyota Prius--the other, and considerably more successful hybrid that subsequently started the craze? Finding one Arguably, one of the trickiest aspects of buying a first-generation Honda Insight is finding one in the first place. Honda sold little over 17,000 units...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Oct 2012
    Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid: Ultimate Guide, What You Need To Know

    Where are you hedging your bets when it comes to the future of automobile propulsion? Maybe you're sticking with hybrids. Maybe you've already gone all the way to an electric car, or are rolling around in a range-extended Chevrolet Volt. For some, the latest version of the Toyota Prius with plug-in...

  • 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel
    Diesel Pickup Trucks From Chevy, Ford, Nissan, Ram: Ultimate Guide

    Diesel has been an option for heavy-duty pickup users for quite some time now, and the sights and sounds of a big Power Stroke-equipped Ford or Cummins-engined RAM will be quite familiar to most. It's taken longer for the fuel to find acceptance in the light-duty, full-size pickup market, but...

  • 2009 Toyota Prius
    Buying A Used Toyota Prius Hybrid: 5 Quick Pieces Of Advice

    The Toyota Prius is by far the most common hybrid car on U.S. roads, which means there are a lot of them out there for sale as used cars. A reader wrote to ask what she should keep in mind when starting to shop for a used Toyota Prius hybrid. What follows are some quick notes from our editors...

  • 2015 Lexus RC 350
    2014 Lexus Hybrids: Ultimate Guide

    As part of the Toyota empire, Lexus was one of the first carmakers to realize the potential of hybrids, and the company now has a wide range of hybrids, competing in several market classes. So successful has Lexus's hybrid range been, that the company has now sold over half a million--and with new...

  • 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, Catskill Mountains, NY, Nov 2013
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy: 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid

    For 2014, our fourth annual Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy award goes to the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid. This new model of the redesigned Honda Accord sedan introduced last year is comfortable, quiet, stylish--and delivers real-world fuel economy from 40 mpg to as much as 52 mpg. And that's...

  • Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014 award

    We've driven the cars. We've discussed their pros, their cons, the overall technology trends, and the many unanswered questions about the future of green cars. Now we've chosen a winner. This being a teaser post, we're not going to tell you what it is yet. That has to wait a day. But to refresh your memory, our five nominees for Best Green Car To Buy 2014 are: 2014 BMW i3 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid 2014 Mazda 3 We've put them all in a photo gallery above too. And just to avoid confusion, remember that to be eligible for consideration, a green...

  • 2014 Mazda Mazda3
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Mazda 3

    Even conventional gasoline cars--no plugs, no hybrids, no turbos--can be green. And we've long been looking forward to the debut of the 2014 Mazda 3, an all-new generation of the compact hatchback and sedan that have always been among the more rewarding cars to drive in the segment. With Mazda's...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV  -  First Drive, Portland, July 2013
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV

    What do you call an all-electric minicar that has elements of the Chevy Volt, can spin its drive wheels if you have a heavy foot--and still ranks as the most efficient plug-in car sold in the U.S. this year? We'd call it the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV. And it's one of our five nominees for Green Car...

  • 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, test drive in Hell, Michigan
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 Chevy Cruze Diesel

    The 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel is a somewhat daring car, and one that diesel fans have been urging a U.S. maker to sell for years, if not decades. It's the first diesel-engined passenger vehicle sold by General Motors since 1986, and it's a fully modern car with the latest in emissions control...

  • 2014 BMW i3 (German-market version), Amsterdam, Oct 2013
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy Nominee: 2014 BMW i3

    The 2014 BMW i3 is the most audacious expansion of a well-known car brand in many years. BMW--the maker of "ultimate driving machines"--is using electric propulsion, a carbon-fiber reinforced body, and a Scandinavian Modern interior not in an expensive luxury sedan, but in a subcompact hatchback...

  • 2014 BMW i3 (German-market version), Amsterdam, Oct 2013
    Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014: Technology Trends

    Yesterday we listed the nominees for Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy 2014 award: two battery-electric vehicles, one hybrid, one diesel, and one very fuel-efficient gasoline car. But what do our nominees say about the state of green-car design this year? Overall, they highlight four trends to...

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