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Car Maker Offers Guide To Buying Electric, Hybrid Vehicles

By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Although one electric car maker is at death's door, the industry almost has to get healthier, so maybe it's time for an electric/hybrid vehicle buying guide.

Despite Fisker's woes, Reed McManus, senior editor for the Sierra Club magazine, says all the big car companies want to build electrics and hybrids.

"It's definitely the way of the future because Corporate Average Fuel Economy has to get up to 54.5 miles per gallon and this is one of the easiest ways to do it, is reduce the size of the gas engine and increase battery power and electrical power," says McManus.

Shopping for one?

A key choice is all-electric with its more limited range versus electric-gas hybrid which is not quite as green but has seen the most growth in sales.

McManus says, although batteries are getting better, they still take a chunk of cargo space, except in the designed-from-scratch Tesla where the batteries are in the floor pan.

To see the guide, visit: content.sierraclub.org/evguide.

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