All About Japan Autos

The primary benefit of buying a green car is its gas savings. But it seems that there are other advantages too. One being federal tax credits and another is high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane access.

While HOV lanes were initially designed for vehicles carrying more than one passenger, you can now fly solo in California and other states if you have a special permit for electric and hybrid cars. This significantly cuts down on time spent behind the wheel. Our Managing Editor, Jamie Page Deaton, estimates that she saves 45 minutes to an hour, in her hybrid, each way on her daily commute from suburban Virginia to Washington D.C.

In California, it’s been done before — there was similar program in 2005 through 2010 that gave hybrids an edge. EgmCarTech explains, “The program was so wildly successful that when being sold with the HOV sticker, Prius resale values increased by as much as $4,000 in California.”

The problem for General Motors is that its competition has been given access while the Volt must wait. “The Nissan Leaf, which will get up to 100 miles on battery power alone and will go on sale by year’s end will be immediately eligible,” says The Detroit News. This is because the Leaf qualifies under a different bill passed earlier this year.

If you’re in the market for a new or used car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year’s best cars as well as this month’s best car deals.