Car source Kelley Blue Book goes green

Correction, 1:35 p.m. PDT: This story initially misspelled the name of the company known for its car buying guide. It is Kelley Blue Book.

The company known for supplying the "blue book" value of cars is turning green.

Kelley Blue Book on Thursday introduced a section to its Web site for sorting through the many options for buying fuel-efficient cars.

Click on image to see a photo gallery of upcoming electric cars.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

There are, of course, hybrid cars that run partially on batteries. Plug-in hybrids, such as the Chevy Volt and models from Toyota, are expected in the next two years. The Tesla Roadster, a $100,000 sports car, recently starting shipping to customers.

Automakers, particularly GM, are pushing flex-fuel vehicles that can run on e85, an ethanol-gasoline mixture. Diesels, meanwhile, claim to be cleaner, quieter, and better than previous versions.

But Kelley Blue Book editors' top 10 picks for "green cars" included five hybrids. Below is its top 10 list of cars with each one's combined city and highway miles-per-gallon rating.

2008 Toyota Prius, 46 mpg

2008 Honda Civic Hybrid, 42 mpg

2008 smart fortwo, 36 mpg

2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid, 34 mpg

2008 Mini Cooper, 32 mpg

2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, 32 mpg

2008 Honda Fit, 31 mpg

2008 Mercedes-Benz E320 BLUETEC, 26 mpg

2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid, 26 mpg

2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, 21 mpg

[jemiller0]

That's a pretty lame top 10 list. Why do they even bother listing the Tahoe? My Corolla gets 35 MPG and it's not even listed.

[nichts925]

The Tahoe is listed because 21 mpg is notable for a full size SUV. The list isn't the top 10 most fuel efficient cars on the market.

[hector_fsu]

LOL, "pretty lame list" then goes on to state he drives a Corolla. Thanks man, that made my day. I drive a SS Camaro that gets 17 - 24mpg. I don't know why people make such a big deal about their car's fuel eff. Granted it costs me $1,000 more a year for gas than your Corolla, but I'll make that up on the resell value of the car. All the money you "save" on gas, is lost in the depreciation of the car as soon as you drove it off the lot.

[mishani]

See what happens to the resale value of your Camaro when gas prices are $6-7 a gallon.

[b_baggins]

He won't have to. Gas will never get that high. The American people are already starting to tell environmentalists to go to h*** at $4 a gallon. Once we get their boots of our necks, gasoline prices will plummet. Did you know the U.S. has the equivalent of twice the Saudi total reserves in oil shale, alaska and continental shelf oil? Add to that coal gasification (the U.S. has the largest coal reserves in the world) and we can produce enough oil and gasoline just from U.S. reserves to fuel our automobiles for about 200 years.

[Orbitalint]

Maybe I am missing something but I bought my 2003 Civic Hybrid for 20k, I just looked up what I might be able to get for it and it was between 10 and 12k. In 5 years, my car has depreciated less than 50%. Oh and yeah, I got a 3k tax credit when I bought it. Since Chevy stopped making Camaros for a few years, I could only compare it to a 2002 - 35th Anniversary model. MSRP - 30K : Residual Value - 12K. You're right though, depreciation on my car is really the problem.

[ender21]

LOL @ B-Baggins. Keep on clinging to those old world beliefs, Bilbo. The world is still flat too. And there really is a fountain of youth in Florida.

If you CAN find a cleaner, more efficient alternative, then why wouldn't you use it?

The jackass with the camaro is spending a LOT more than $1k more per year on his gas than the Corolla owner, and he's going to own it for a LOT longer than just ONE year, too.

The high resale value goes to the car that is IN DEMAND, and no matter what the "world is still flat" people believe, gas has never trended DOWN in costs... only up. Camaro owner and b_baggins, all the kids in the cities with asthma and other lung issues can thank your bass ackwards hatred for it. Glad to know your parents did a ****** job of teaching you values.

[ender21]

Oh, and Hector.... Re: your grade school taunting of the Corolla owner...

Nice SS.... sorry about your *****!

[steve8411]

Yawn... when GM, Ford, and Chrysler CEO's grow a sack and get out of Big Oil's back pocket and make vehicles we WANT to drive (Chevy Avalanche for me) that run on Hydrogen fuel cells ... then this list will mean something ... Otherwise, let's just keep handing our money to the Middle East, Mexico and Venezuela without any griping. Oh yeah, the US Congress gets a big fat check from Big Oil too .... so don't expect any help there.

[AlanHub]

Trust me, something that runs on Hydrogen Fuel cells is not a technology you would ever want to own. Regarding big oil or exporting countries, i think you have the two confused, Saudi Arabia, like Israel, are our two most valuable allies in the Middle East. Nevertheless, the Iraq War was mishandled, and now we are forced to suffer because our Sovereign nation is only now beginning to export its abundant oil to us.

[Kevenmac]

For the record, I get 36-38 mpg with my 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. Those figures are always low.

[hector_fsu]

Mishani,
Resell value will hold on any special edition muscle car with 350+ horsepower. People looking to buy those cars don't care what the price of gas is, they can afford it. Plus if you're that concerned about the prices, just by a motorcycle.....problem solved (60+ mpg).

[mishani]

Hector, if you are not concerned about gas prices, why read about ratings of fuel efficient cars at all? :)

[JacqueShellaque]

Americans have to wake up and smell the pricy gasoline and pollution and start being realistic about motor vehicles. Drive as small a vehicle as meets your real needs and use a bicycle as often as possible. With most trips being less than three miles, that should be most of the time.

[b_baggins]

Here's an even better idea. Practice the great American tradition of keeping your nose out of other people's lives. Go play parent to your children and leave me alone.

[hector_fsu]

mishani,
Based on the title of the link: "KBB goes green", I wasn't expecting an article about "Top 10 Green Cars"