Can cars be green?

We are starting to see the terms hybrid car, electric car and solar car more and more these days and it got me thinking: Is there such a thing as a truly green car? What exactly do these terms mean? These questions, and the fact that the gas station down the street from me now has 87 octane gas selling for the bargain $4.19/gallon, prompted me to look into the answers. To start, here is a link to a useful article explaining the differences between gas-powered cars, electric-powered cars, and the combination of the two - more commonly known as hybrid vehicles. With the soaring oil prices these days, the thought of finding a car that is capable of driving 35-55 miles/gallon is pretty appealing. There are some very helpful sites and blogs out there that are really breaking down the advances in the hybrid industry, as well as comparing what is available on the market. Here are a few links of note:

1. Hybridcars.com: This site has a few nice features including a database that compares hybrid vs. non-hybrid cars, a robust research section covering topics from the environmental impact of cars, fuel options and buyers guides, as well as the latest technology coming to the forefront in the industry.
2. The Green Vehicle Guide: This site is housed within EPA's Transportation section, and covers the greenest vehicles and their emission ratings relative to gas-powered cars.
3. The Green Rating: This is a site Yahoo advertises that ranks vehicles on a scale of 1-100 (measuring their environmental friendliness). The site goes on to rank the top 100 cars by that green rating.

In addition to hybrid cars, we are starting to see smaller vehicles here in the States that have long been staples of the road in Europe, and other high-priced gas countries. The first of these vehicles to cross the Atlantic was the Mini Cooper. Most recently, and my personal favorite, the Smart Car has been introduced. While safety ratings for these cars could be an issue, I imagine more and more of these energy-efficient cars will be brought to market. I hope the days of the huge Hummer's may be coming to an end....