Green Driving Tips

In years past, the marquee vehicles at the Seattle Auto Show have had names like Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari.

Not this year. Gas prices may have come down in the past few weeks, but car buyers today only have three words on their mind when they sign on the dotted line for a new set of wheels - miles per gallon.

When the Seattle Auto Show kicks off on Nov. 5 at Qwest Field Event Center in Seattle, fuel-efficient automobiles will take up 25 percent of the floor space, triple last year, said Jim Hammond. Hammond has managed the show, the largest car exhibition north of San Francisco and west of Chicago, since 1975.

“The year, it’s green, green and more green,” Hammond said.

Some of the high-mileage cars on display will be the Toyota Prius, which gets 46.6 miles per gallon, city- and highway-mileage combined; the Honda Civic Si, which gets 42.1 and the Nissan Altima, which gets 34.1 miles per gallon.

But there’s one little car - the EMC3 - that blows the competition away in terms of gas mileage - a three-wheel vehicle that was designed in Seattle and is manufactured by Chinese auto maker Geely.

The EMC3 gets 60 miles per gallon, seats two and costs between $14,000 and $15,000, depending on whether you buy the manual shift or the automatic.  Full Article