eBay Motors goes green with new website
International auction website eBay has launched a new website designed to assist consumers wishing to buy and sell green vehicles.
The online auctioneer, which already offered hugely popular auto sales service eBay Motors, announced late last week that it is launching a spin-off site to help buyers identify and purchase green vehicles.
The site, available at http://green.ebay.com/green-driving/, is designed to boost sales of hybrid, clean diesel, electric, natural gas and ethanol-fueled vehicles by offering a single marketplace with additional tools to help eco-conscious buyers make a decision.
As part of the service, eBay Green Motoring brings in data from the US government's fuel economy database at fueleconomy.gov to help users identify cars which offer similar fuel economy to the one they are looking at, as well as providing information on the likely range and estimated annual fuel costs of models listed on the site.
Users will also be able to search on green car features such as fuel type, body style or lifestyle to help them determine which green model will be the most suitable, although a Green Machines section provides an editorial overview of the models currently available for sale.
Importantly, the site doesn't just offer green trailblazers such as the Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius -- by including second-hand diesel and CNG cars, would-be buyers can also gain access to vehicles that have been modified for cleanliness.
At the moment, the site is restricted to US buyers only, and a spokesperson confirmed that there were no current plans for international availability, although the wider eBay Motoring site is widely used around the world.
