Green motoring by the book

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About now might seem like a good time to get a basic grounding on green cars and alternative fuels. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Hybrid and Alternative Fuel Vehicles by Jack R. Nerad (published by Penguin) has been out for a year (so was probably written in 2006), but offers clear and unbiased explanations on things like E85, natural gas-powered vehicles, biodiesel, electric cars and possible future forms of automotive energy.

Nerad knows of which he speaks. He’s executive editorial director with Kelley Blue Book and so has the tech savvy combined with the writing skills. Over the course of 193 pages, he goes into the safety, reliability and running costs of several forms of ‘green’ transport, all the while displaying a journalistic impartiality, helping the reader negotiate the many shades of gray in this green issue. With people lining up to buy hybrids and finding the current price of gas excruciating, this kind of knowledge is good to have.

-- Colin Ryan