The Green, Green Grass of Home

Which cities are greenest when it comes to car shopping?

Cars.com's Green Index, a ranking of hybrid-electric vehicle searches by market, indicates shoppers in West Coast cites show the greatest interest in HEV vehicles.

San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Sacramento and San Diego lead the pack.

In each of those markets, hybrid-electric vehicles account for more than 3% of new-car searches on Cars.com.

Cities in the South lag behind most, with Houston, Oklahoma City and Memphis, Birmingham, AL, and Miami at the bottom of the list.

“Gas prices definitely play a role in hybrid interest, because West Coast cities traditionally have higher gas prices on average than the rest of the country,” says Cars.com editor-in-chief Patrick Olsen.

“The Cars.com Green Index also shows that interest is high in markets that are traditionally concerned with environmental issues, such as Denver and Minneapolis, and those plagued by traffic and congestion, such as Washington and Boston,” he says.