While most of us are still driving conventional gas-powered clunkers (like my Jeep Cherokee for example), car companies have started producing more alternatives to the internal combustion engine. If you are in the market for a new vehicle, consider buying a vehicle that is at least partially powered by an alternative fuel source.

1. Hybrids. The best known of the hybrids, the Toyota Prius starts at $21,1000 and boosts an impressive 48 miles per gallon (mpg) city driving, 45 mpg on the highway and 46 mpg combined (when the car switches between electric and gasoline power). The 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid, is another attractive option, but has limited availability and can only be purchased in California, New York, New Jersey and throughout New England. The Altima gets about 35 mpg and can run for 600 miles on one tank. Starting at $25,070, the Altima is pricier than the Prius, but larger, more stylish and also ranked #1 among mid-size hybrids by Motor Trend Magazine.

2. E85 Ethanol. The Chevrolet Impala E85 is considered a flex-fuel vehicle and runs on a blend of 85% Ethanol and 15% gasoline, or a combination of the two. The fuel economy of the Impala is nowhere near as good as that of hybrids however. The Impala is listed at 18 mpg city driving and 29 mpg on the highway. Interestingly, while looking around the Chevrolet website, I found that their 2008 Aveo (which is built with a traditional gasoline engine), gets better gas mileage than their flex-fuel vehicles with 24 mpg city driving and 34 on the highway. If you’re in the market for a large truck, consider the Ford F150 E85. Starting at $17,520, the Ford F150 has all of the power and towing capacity (up to 11,000 pounds) of a Ford truck, but its fuel emissions are not where they could be. With a listing of approximately 14 mpg city and 19 mpg highway driving, its clear that Ford needs to step up its research and development into more fuel efficient heavy-duty trucks.

3. Diesel. Volkswagen is launching a line of new diesel-powered vehicles in the US this year, and according to their site, the cars will be legal in all 50 states. While the Volkswagen Sportwagen is not yet available in this country, it’s been rumored that the hatchback is coming early this year and will boost an impressive 50 mpg fuel economy. According to HybridCars.com, diesel versions of the Touareg and Jetta TDI will also be for sale in the US in the spring of 2008.

Even with these new technologies, it is clear that we must demand better options for powering our vehicles. Buying a car, truck or SUV with an alternative fuel source is a great start, but to really affect change we have to start demanding better technologies, more efficient fuels and higher fuel emission standards. A good place to start making demands is by voting in more environmentally-friendly (and less big auto/oil friendly) legislators or by writing your legislators in Congress.
You can find a comprehensive list of cars, SUVs and trucks powered by alternative fuels on HybridCars.com.