The Los Angeles Auto Show just came to a close, and not surprisingly, manufacturers brought a lot of green cars to the event. There were high-mpg gasoline cars, electric cars, clean diesels, and more. (Ferrari and Bentley also brought expensive gas guzzlers, but I’m willing to bet the market for those is pretty small.)

Here, then, is the Good Green Cars round-up of the enviro-friendly autos that were at the L.A. Auto Show.

• Ford hybrids: Ford brought the all new 2010 Fusion hybrid and 2010 Mercury Milan hybrid to L.A. The cars are nearly identical but for a few styling cues and trim levels, and they share the new lighter hybrid system found in the current Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs. The cars can go 47 mph on electric power only, according to Ford.
• Hyundai Blue Drive: This isn’t a new engine technology; rather, it’s Hyundai’s strategy to reach a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2015. It includes the 2010 Sonata hybrid, high-mileage “Blue” versions of the 2009 Accent and Elantra, and a future crossover with a gasoline direct-injection engine.
• Lexus hybrid SUV: The 2010 Lexus RX 450h gets its first update since its introduction, with more horsepower and better exhaust-heat recovery. It also gets its own distinctive grille. No further word yet on whether Lexus could be Toyota’s all-hybrid brand in the future.
• Mini EV: The Mini E plug-in electric vehicle made its official debut in L.A. Only a handful will be available anytime soon, and those will be tested by private and corporate customers in California, New York, and New Jersey. The Mini E can go 150 miles on a charge, with a top speed of 95 mph.
• Volkswagen diesels: VW expands its clean-diesel TDI technology to the latest Touareg SUV, which means it passes California’s stringent emissions laws. The EPA rates it at 25 mpg, and it will be available in all 50 states. This is the same technology that earned the Jetta TDI the “Green Car of the Year” award at the show.

Compounding the massive carbon footprint left by all these old-skool engines is the rotten traffic. City streets can be as wide as twelve lanes — though lanes are mere suggestions for the citizens of Buenos Aires. Cars cram the smaller side streets, with drivers idling at red lights and honking in frustration. Even ambulances have a hard time getting through.

I saw not one hybrid or electric car on the streets in the week I spent in the city, but I did see a sign of green hope, like the single plant Eve retrieves from a ruined Earth in Wall-E (why yes, it was the in-flight movie. Why do you ask?). Argentine petroleum company YPF has billboards along the city’s streets informing the diesel-choked drivers that clean diesel is on its way.

The web site (which is in Spanish) lists the advantages of what the company is calling D-Euro diesel: cleaner combustion, more miles per gallon, and fewer emissions. The fuel will have fewer than 50 ppm of sulfur, closer to the 15 ppm in the ultra-low-sulfur diesel used in the U.S. D-Euro diesel is classified as Bin 4 in Europe.

Photo of Bs. As. buses by blmurch.

Mercedes-Benz has gotten a lot of press recently about AdBlue, the additive that makes its new BlueTec clean diesel SUVs and wagons so clean. I called up Larkin Hill, a PR rep at Mercedes, and asked her to explain to me what this AdBlue and BlueTec stuff was all about.

“Twenty years ago, 80% of Mercedes sales were diesel,” said Hill. “But they had a reputation for being loud, slow, and sooty. The BlueTec diesels are quiet, fast, and clean. You can stand behind one in a white linen suit and not get dirty.” This, she said, is due to AdBlue, an exhaust treatment fluid used in all the BlueTec diesels to neutralize nitrous oxide emissions.

In order for the Mercedes BlueTec diesels to meet the U.S. Bin 5 emissions standard, the company had to guarantee that the customer would put AdBlue into the exhaust system. “You get many, many, many warnings,” said Hill. “The car gives you twenty chances. It counts down the number of starts you have left.” When you’re out of AdBlue and the countdown reaches zero, you can’t start the car without adding another quart.

The reservoir is easy to find and easy to fill, though, as it’s located in the spare tire well in the back. And you can go 10,000 miles of normal driving without worry. Most people will have their M-B dealer top off the AdBlue tank during regular maintenance. For those who do a lot of towing or want peace of mind, BlueTec owners can buy and carry extra quarts. It’s available at 1500 outlets, like Pep Boys.

Right now, there are three 2009 vehicles with BlueTec clean diesel: the ML320, the GL320, and the R320. Hill said the company plans to release an E320 sedan with BlueTec and AdBlue later this year. And yes, she said, AdBlue is indeed blue.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized its list of the top low-mpg cars for the upcoming model year. It doesn’t restrict itself to merely small cars or green cars with hybrid systems or alternative fuels, oh no. The EPA lists the most fuel-efficient cars, from minicompacts, like the Mini Cooper, to midsized station wagons, like the Kia Rondo.

The overall winner in the mpg race was–hold on to your hats–the Toyota Prius, with a rating of 48 mpg city and 45 mpg highway. Here’s the top ten, in case you’re in the market for a brand-new car. The kicker is that these cars, with their low fuel usage and emissions, are the hottest cars on the lot these days. Finding one at a reasonable price may be tricky.

To see the full list, visit FuelEconomy.gov.

1. Toyota Prius, 48/45
2. Honda Civic Hybrid, 40/45
3. Smart ForTwo convertible and coupe, 33/41
4. Volkswagen Jetta and Jetta Sportwagen diesels, 30/41
5. Toyota Yaris, 29/35
6. Mini Cooper manual, 28/37
7. Nissan Versa, 26/31
8. Mini Cooper automatic, 25/34
9. Hyundai Sonata, 22/32
10. Honda Accord, 22/31

And for you glass-half-empty, hell-in-a-handbasket types, the EPA lists the cars with the worst mpg as well. That list tends more toward the Lamborghini/Ferrari/Bentley end of the spectrum, though I was suprised to see the Saab 9-3 on the worst list.

This month Interstate 65, which runs from Gary, Indiana, to Mobile, Alabama, become America’s first biofuels corridor, with help from the U.S. Energy Department, General Motors, and the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. What does a biofuels corridor mean for drivers? It means that there are dozens of stations along I-65 offering E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline) or B20 (20% biodiesel, 80% regular diesel), each spaced no more than a quarter tank apart.

The idea is less romantic than Route 66, but far more practical and forward-thinking. The route covers four states: Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. Seems like the perfect place to try out your new $2.4-million Koenigsegg CCXR supercar, which runs on E85. It could do this route from stem to stern in a cool three and a half hours.

Photo by peggydavis66.

If you love the safe feeling of driving a Volvo but not the around-town gas mileage (16 mpg in an S80!), do the Swedes have good news for you. Volvo announced at the Paris auto show, where green was king, that it would introduce start-stop technology in some of its 2009 models, with diesel hybrids to appear in 2012 and plug-in hybrids to come sometime soon after that.

The smaller C30, S40, and V50 will get the start-stop treatment first. This relatively uncomplicated technology shuts off the engine when it’s not under load, at stop lights, say, and starts it back up when you’re ready to get moving. Start-stop will make its way into the rest of Volvo’s lineup in the future.

Diesel hybrid systems will be used in the company’s larger vehicles, like SUVs, wagons, and the big sedans. The Volvo setup will have a 5-cylinder turbodiesel engine to drive the front wheels and an electric motor to power the rear wheels. At low speeds, the electric motor will be able to do all the necessary work.

Automotive News mentioned that electric motors and diesel engines have the same shortcoming, namely a lack of horsepower at high rpm. Volvo execs say that they’re more interested in reducing CO2 emissions, and this is the best way for them to do that. I doubt many people were buying Volvo wagons for their sportiness, anyway.

The Northwest Automotive Press Association has released the results, and the first-ever Best Green SUV Award went to the 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid. The field included two hybrids, a diesel, and an SUV with variable cylinder management technology.

SUVs in the green category were judged alongside “regular” SUVs and were scored on the same on-road and off-road handling capabilities, comfort, ergonomics, etc. In addition, the Green SUVs were evaluated on their fuel economy and emissions technologies and innovations.

It’s interesting to note that, because the Green SUVs were run over the exact same courses as the conventional SUVs, they won in other categories as well.

Best Family SUV

• $30,000 - $50,000 price range as tested
• Kid-friendly features
• Winner: 2009 Dodge Durango HEMI Hybrid

Best Luxury SUV

• Above $50,000 as tested
• Advanced luxury features
• Winner: Mercedes-Benz ML320 BlueTec Diesel

Hyundai’s got the blues. Two of them, to be exact. Like Mercedes-Benz, the Korean manufacturer has apparently tired of everything being green and branded its eco-conscious automotive efforts blue, as in the i20 blue and Santa Fe blue Hybrid, both of which debuted at the Paris auto show in early October.

The “blue” designation doesn’t mean hybrid; it means aerodynamic, efficiency, and weight measures have been taken to lower the car’s environmental impact. In the case of the i20, Hyundai took the following steps to lighten its footprint:

• 1.4-liter diesel engine
• six-speed gearbox, rather than a five-speed
• low-friction engine oil
• software to optimize timing, injection, and idle speed
• ISG start-stop system that cuts the engine while the car is not moving and not in gear
• full-length covers underneath the car to reduce drag
• Michelin Energy low rolling resistance tires

All this adds up to 15% lower carbon dioxide emissions and a 15% improvement in fuel efficiency (from 55 mpg to 63 mpg).

The Santa Fe blue, meanwhile, has a 2.4-liter engine mated to a 6-speed transmission and a 30 kW electric motor and a lithium polymer battery. The company says that this parallel hybrid architecture, as they call it, will be the basis for all Hyundai’s hybrids in the future. In the Santa Fe, the system returns 38 mpg. As part of the new blue lineup, it also incorporates many of the features, such as ISG start-stop, found in the i20 blue.

Here’s a list of debuts and concepts to look for at Mondial de l’Automobile as the reports start filling the blogosphere next month.

Debuts

• Ford Fiesta ECOnetic, 65 mpg and not U.S.-bound
• Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, with lithium-ion batteries
• Nissan Pixo minicar, one foot shorter than the Chevy Aveo

Concepts

• Citroen Hypnos hybrid
• Honda Insight hybrid, poised to battle the Prius
• Lexus LF-Xh hybrid, based on the concept LF-X SUV
• Nissan Nuvu EV minicar
• Opel Insignia EcoFLEX sports tourer, clean diesel on sale in Europe next spring
• Peugeot hybrid
• Renault Ondelious diesel mild hybrid
• Suzuki SX4-FCV fuel cell vehicle, already certified in Japan

They began their latest record-breaking attempt to drive across the lower 48 in Chantilly, Virginia, and will end it September 26 in Beckley, West Virginia, after looping through Vermont, Montana, California, Louisiana, and points in between. The Taylors are using fuel-saving tacticts of the sort they teach in their fuel economy workshops, like avoiding idling and high speeds, plus all the GoodGreenCars.com faves like checking tire pressure and planning your route.

Check out Fuel Academy, the Taylors’ web site, for posts from the road and more information about their efforts to reduce oil consumption and CO2 emissions. They hold 46 speed driving world records and 36 fuel economy world records, so it sounds like they know how to have fun while reducing their impact on the planet.