How to find a green car, EV, or hybrid

421 1 minute read

If you’re looking at maximizing fuel economy or getting a car with green cred, you’re probably already thinking about a battery-electric vehicle (also referred to as an EV), a gasoline-electric hybrid, or a plug-in hybrid. And we do, too. That’s why there’s a special category in our Car Finder tool just for environmentally-friendly cars, trucks, and crossovers. You’ll can further sort by specific green powertrain, so if you’re only looking for plug-in hybrids you can filter out the rest. Filter further by body style, size, or even transmission type.

We also looked at EPA fuel economy ratings, since even non-electrified vehicles are getting significant boosts to fuel efficiency using advanced technologies like turbocharging and direct injection. (Just look at Mazda’s Skyactiv-X technology, which is coming in a few years – it shows there’s life in the old gasoline internal combustion engine yet.) Vehicles that get a combined MPG rating of 35 or above make it onto the list as their own subcategory, since this sort of fuel economy puts them in a class that we can safely consider to be green.

And lest you think that to be green, you need to stick with a tiny, miserly hatchback or the like, we have good news: there are plenty of hybrid versions of popular crossovers and SUVs around htat meet the criteria. Just choose Green/Fuel Economy and filter by bodystyle (select crossover and SUV), and you’ll notice a broad swath of vehicles to choose from, from the ever-popular RAV4 hybrid to luxurious offerings from Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. Being green in this day and age doesn’t mean you need to compromise on size or utility!