The 2.4-liter, 4-cylinder engine and 5-speed automatic transmission go a long way toward making the Kia Forte a fuel sipper rather than a gas guzzler. There’s a green “eco” light that comes on to the right of the speedometer to indicate when your driving style is saving fuel. The problem with the light is that it can blink on and off as you slow for traffic then speed up for a green light. Catching it out of the corner of my eye, I kept thinking I’d left my right blinker on. It also wasn’t enough of a reward to encourage good driving habits.

If you have family or friends who need to trade in a gas hog of an SUV or pickup truck, and they’re not ready to go hippie-dippy hybrid, the Kia Forte would be a good transition car. It’s got lots of pep in the gas pedal — which doesn’t lend itself to green driving — but the engine size and transmission keep you from burning too much fuel, no matter how you drive.

In the end, after a week of driving, I got a combined 26 mpg, with about equal highway and street driving. It sounds odd to say, since that’s a perfectly respectable number, but I expected higher. For about the same price, a person could get a Honda Insight, which gets 43 mpg on the highway but lacks the quickness of the Kia.

2010 Kia Forte SX Info

• 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine
• EPA rated at 23 mpg city/31 mpg highway
• Tons of safety equipment
• MSRP as tested: $19,795

This car was provided for review by the manufacturer at no cost to the reviewer.

Let’s start with what you want to know about the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid: I drove it for one week on city streets and freeways, in traffic and on clear stretches, and got a combined 37 mpg.

There are two things I love about the Fusion Hybrid: the LCD instrument cluster and its car-like appearance. The instrument cluster is as addictive as a video game — even though its designers were asked to tone done the gamey-ness of it. A green box to the left of the speedometer pops up when driving to let you know when you’re using EV mode, and I was obsessed with driving under battery power alone as much as possible. Not just for the good of the environment, mind you. Eco-friendly driving earns you a bushel of leaves over on the right side of the LCD screen. I wanted leaves! More leaves!

The exterior styling might not strike some people as anything to write home about, which is exactly why I like it. Personally, I prefer a bit more adventuresome designs, but the Fusion Hybrid looks like a regular car, not a lunar lander. This is a four-door sedan my mom, or even my grandmother, would feel comfortable tooling around in. The change from electric to gas power and back again is seamless, as is the start/stop technology.

When you turn the car off, the LCD readouts slide behind the speedometer and a trip summary pops up so you can see the number of leaves you earned and get detailed numbers on your fuel consumption. I delighted in telling everyone things like, “I drove all the way here — 12.5 miles — and only used .2 gallons of gas.” Everyone I told this to suppressed an eye roll, which I appreciate.

2010 Ford Fusion Specs

• 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine
• CVT transmission (no gears)
• Full hybrid with regenerative braking
• EPA fuel economy: 41 mpg city, 36 mpg highway
• My fuel economy: 37 mpg combined
• MSRP as tested: $27,270

This car was provided for review by the manufacturer at no cost to the reviewer.

The brand-new Honda Insight is a big improvement, design-wise, over its predecessor. Granted, the aerodynamic shape has become familiar to us by now, thanks to the original Insight (with its covered wheels) and the uber-popular Toytoa Prius. But it’s got some moves of its own worth noting.

First is the informative dash. How do you want your information? Honda allows the driver to select what kind of input he receives, from current average miles per gallon to fuel economy for the last few trips. A glowing backlight behind the heads-up speedometer ranges from bright green to bright blue, depending on how hard you’re pushing the engine.

The Honda Insight isn’t a “true” gasoline electric hybrid, though it does have both a gasoline engine and a battery-powered motor. The difference is that the electric motor can only assist the gas engine; it can’t run on electric power alone, as the Prius or the Ford Escape can. Still, I managed a respecatble 44 mpg over about 100 miles of all-city driving.

Granted, the car itself helped me toward better fuel economy. I had the “Econ” button pushed nearly the entire time, which maximizes mpgs by regulating engine power and accessories. When I turned off the “Econ” mode, the gains in power and zip didn’t outweigh the gas-saving measures.

My only real complaint about the car is the split rear window. In the week I had the Insight, I never got used to the clear top window, pink-tinted lower window, and wide plastic bar between the two. A zippy car it’s not, but with a starting price just below $20,000 (not including destination charges or any federal or state incentives), it could be a game-changer in consumer’s minds.

Photos by Kristen Hall-Geisler.

This car was provided for review by the manufacturer at no cost to the reviewer.

The 2009 Nissan Versa 1.8 S hatchback I tested for a week was cute, bare-bones, fairly cheap — and it got fantastic gas mileage. Really. Here’s how my week went:

The car was a bright-blue hatchback, with bubbly corners and lights. The first thing I noticed was that I had to use the key to get in. No remote keyless entrey here. Seats were manual, windows were manual, locks were manual. It had a basic stereo with decent-enough speakers, and enough room for me but the knees of tall passengers were up against the glovebox. We didn’t try the rear seat.

Without a couple extras like the ABS package, this car could be had for $13,990. As tested, it cost $15,200, which seemed a tad spendy to me for such a Spartan little econobox.

Then, the night before the Versa was to leave my hands, I pulled into the gas station to top it off. I’d driven just over 100 miles almost entirely on surface streets, which used about a quarter tank’s worth of gas. I took my receipt, did the math, and came up with a whopping 32 mpg — on streets! No highway trips this week, no cruise control. With stops and starts and traffic included (though no serious snarls), I got the EPA’s upper estimate for the Versa.

This is the car for people who don’t care what they drive as long as it’s cheap, it’s safe, and it sips gas.

• 2009 Nissan Versa 1.8 S HB
• As tested: $15,200, including destination charge
• 1.8L four-cylinder engine, EPA rated 24 mpg city, 32 mpg highway
• 6.8 tons of carbon dioxide emitted annually

This car was provided for review by the manufacturer at no cost to the reviewer.

This poor 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI SportWagen got a real workout during the week I had it. I had made plans to stay at the Oregon coast, about 100 miles from my home. Then I got roped into a meeting held near Olympia, Washington, about 120 miles from home. All told, I put nearly 500 miles on the odometer — and used almost exactly one full tank of gas.

The diesel engine was quiet, started immediately, and smelled like nothing. It took the hills and curves over the Coast Range like it was a game, and both my short self and my tall husband were comfortable during the ride. The EPA estimates for the Jetta TDI SportWagen are 29 mpg city, 40 mpg highway. I ended up doing quite a bit of highway driving — more than I intended, actually — and was happy with my 37 mpg at the end of the week.

One word of caution to potential buyers: there was no indication on the gas cap that this car required diesel fuel. Drivers are not allowed to pump their own gas in Oregon (or New Jersey), and the attendant had the regular gasoline nozzle in his hand and was about to fill ‘er up. “No! No! Diesel!” I screamed inside the car. Luckily, he heard me and switched to good old B5 (that’s 5% biodiesel, suitable for winter driving). Close call, and one to be aware of if you’re not filling your own diesel tank.

• 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI SportWagen
• As tested: $29,410, including destination charge
• 2.0L diesel engine rated 29 mpg city, 40 mpg highway
• 6.4 tons of carbon dioxide emitted annually, on average

Images by Kristen Hall-Geisler.

This car was provided for review by the manufacturer at no cost to the reviewer.

The 2009 Honda Fit five-door sport is indeed go. I had a Revolution Orange number this week, and I tooled around town quite happily. There was enough punch for merging onto the highway, and it was as easy to park as a Mini Cooper. It was also impossible to park it in, though a UPS truck tried its hardest outside the coffee shop. Those short, rounded front corners can skirt just about anything.

The test car I had was fitted with a nav system that flipped open to reveal the slot for the CD player. Creature comforts were few, but it did have power windows and door locks. I’m not sure the little wing at the top of the hatchback kept the rear tires stuck to the road, but it added to the car’s sporty looks.

Surprisingly, the car didn’t live up to its EPA fuel economy estimates while it was in my hands. I’m not a crazed driver, but I also didn’t make an effort to drive in a fuel-friendly way (the Fit doesn’t have the eco-nanny feature that the new Insight has). There was an mpg minder in the dash, but it was small and I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to it.

After a week of mostly in-town driving, I got 22.1 mpg. The EPA estimates the car a 27 mpg city, 33 highway. I fell far short of its combined rating of 30 mpg, probably thanks to the 30-minute traffic jam I ran into outside Adidas headquarters. All that idling wrecked my mileage.

• 2009 Honda Fit Sport
• As tested, $19,430, including destination charge
• 1.5L gasoline engine rated 27 mpg city, 33 mpg highway
• 6.1 tons of carbon dioxide emitted annually

Images by Kristen Hall-Geisler.

This car was provided for review by the manufacturer at no cost to the reviewer.

I mentioned that the Mitsubishi iMiEV was one of the most popular cars to test drive on the basement track at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. The other was GM’s Chevy Equinox SUV powered by hydrogen fuel cells. I waited my for turn at the wheel and did a few 10-mph laps with a GM rep in the passenger seat to fill me in on the technology.

The most notable thing was that the hydrogen-powered motor was as quiet as an EV, and drove like an EV, since it basically is an EV being powered by hydrogen rather than energy stored in, say, lead-acid batteries. GM has a fleet of these Equinox SUVs on the roads right now, and customers have asked engineers to leave in the “whine” on acceleration, rather than making the vehicle perfectly silent.

Though I couldn’t test it on the 700 feet of impromptu track inside the Cobo Center, the Equinox can do 0-60 in about 12 seconds, which is similar to a Prius. The hydrogen fuel generates zero emissions, and the current generation of the technology operates without any issues from -5 degrees Fahrenheit to 113 degrees. The next generation should be usable in “normal car range,” from -40 to 130 degrees.

GM has the largest fuel cell fleet in the world being tested by consumers right now. What we need is enough solid information from GM and its testers to break the chicken-or-the-egg fuel cell impasse that we’re at now: no one wants to build the cars without fueling stations in place, and no one wants to install the fueling stations without the cars.

Image courtesy of GM.

After a couple manufacturers pulled out of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show at the last minute and the floorplan was rejiggered, there was a large, empty space leftover in the basement of the Cobo Center. What to do with it? I know! Let’s bring in trees, tulips, and shrubberies, and have alternative-fuel vehicles available for test drives!

And so I found myself in line late in the afternoon, waiting to drive the Mitsubishi iMiev. Mitsu didn’t have a booth at the show, so I didn’t think I’d get to see this little EV in person. I was happy to be wrong. It was one of the most popular vehicles to test at the show, as most of the other vehicles were new hybrid models like the Cadillac Escalade. We’ve all driven a hybrid by now, right? Journalists are so jaded.

I lugged my press-kit-filled tote bag to the driver’s side, only to find it wasn’t the driver’s side. The car isn’t manufacturered for use in the States, so it’s right-hand-drive, Japan-style. Luckily, the car is tiny, so I didn’t have far to walk to correct my mistake. Mitsubishi PR guy Moe took the passenger seat to ride along with me and answer my questions. Moe is a fairly tall guy, and he didn’t look too uncomfortable inside the car. I’m only 5′ 4″, and I fit behind the wheel just fine.

We tootled about the smooth cement track for three or four laps. Moe pointed out that there is an Economy mode that slows the starts and is 13% more efficient than regular Drive, and a Boost mode for getting up hills that makes use of regenerated braking power. The little iMiev isn’t fast by anyone’s standards, but it was hard to gauge its usefulness in the real world when I was confined to 700 feet of basement track and a maximum 10 mph.

Moe said the iMiev project started in 2004, and that a fleet of the cars is being tested worldwide, with the U.S. being a proving ground for cold-weather use. He said he’s driven the iMiev on the highway without fearing for his life or being blown all over the road. The batteries help give the little car some weight, he said; he found the gasoline-powered version of the car scarier than the EV on the highway.

The interior was pretty Spartan, with few bells and whistles. But the rear seats can fold down for extra cargo space, which is nice as long as whatever you’re loading in the back is large and airy, like, say, a balloon bouquet. Anything heavier is going to have a noticeable effect on the little motor’s get-up-and-go.

Image by me. Moe is in the passenger seat on the far side of the car.

The Chevy Malibu Hybrid is the gas-sipping car for people who don’t want to look like an eco-freak. It’s a pretty big four-door sedan with lots of space, a solid feel, and comfy seats. Grandparents and salespeople will love this car. It’s not an incognito hybrid, though: there’s the green hybrid badge on the trunk and a large hybrid decal at the top of the back window.

This car got a little extra testing this week, as we got a load of snow dumped on us here in the Pacific Northwest. I drove the hybrid — carefully — on slick and snowy streets when it was safe. The traction control worked beautifully as long as I was going slowly. When the snow got deep, though, the Malibu stayed parked in the driveway for five days.

As a result of driving in less than optimal conditions, I didn’t get the best mileage. The EPA says the Malibu Hybrid should turn in 26 city, 34 highway, but I averaged in the low 20s in the time I had the car. The most helpful green feature in nasty weather was the automatic shutoff, which was indicated by a flashing green “ECO” light in the dashboard. The Eco mode shut down and restarted smoothly.

The Chevy Malibu Hybrid starts at $26,345, which seems par for the hybrid course. If it makes you, the consumer, feel any better, it’s not the most expensive Malibu trim level available. There’s a 3.6-liter V6 LTZ version that starts at over $26,000, making the hybrid look like a good value all around. Too bad Chevy lists it as having “Very limited availability.”

This car was provided for review by the manufacturer at no cost to the reviewer.

The first thing to note about my week with the Honda Civic Hybrid was that it was very cold. Not negative-degrees cold, but well below freezing cold. I wondered if the hybrid engine or fuel economy would suffer when the car and the street were icy. I’m not sure if it was the weather or my driving, but my mpgs came in way below the EPA estimate.

Over the week, I drove about 120 miles, and I managed to average 31.5 mpg combined city, highway, and icy roads. The EPA rates the Civic Hybrid at 40 city, 45 highway. Handling, however, wasn’t compromised, and I was glad to have stability assist, ABS, and 4- and 5-star crash ratings. Not that I crashed. The car is just fine. I’m an excellent driver.

The Honda Civic Hybrid makes heavy use of its Integrated Motor Assist technology, which uses an electronic motor mounted between the gasoline engine and the transmission for extra power. Honda says the electric motor can propel the car from a stop to 35 mph, but I had a hard time keeping the internal combustion engine from kicking in, no matter how carefully I drove.

The car does have an auto stop feature that cuts the gasoline engine out almost as soon as the car is stopped, and it starts back up seamlessly when it’s needed. A blinking green “Auto Stop” indicator in the dash lets the driver know that the car is supposed to be absolutely silent.

The poor-ish mileage was my only complaint with the Honda, and that was likely a function of the weather, not the car. But if you live in an area with regular harsh winters, you may only get 30 or 35 mpg with the Civic Hybrid. Keep in mind, though, that these days we’re calling anything above 30 mpg pretty good.

This car was provided for review by the manufacturer at no cost to the reviewer.