Save Auto Loan Money (and the Environment, too)

How do you encourage people not squander precious fuel? While $4-a-gallon gasoline prices might already be making people think twice, a Charlotte, N.C.-area credit union is giving consumers another reason to make their next automobile purchase a little greener: fuel efficient auto loans.

According to a news release from Truliant Federal Union, the company's loans will be available for use toward "any new or used vehicle, not just hybrids, that get 29 miles per gallon or more on the highway."

And for those motivated by a different type of green, there are some added perks—the loans offer a .50% rate discount and can be financed for up to 135% of the vehicle's total value. That's social engineering we can live with. If only they could work in a disincentive for shrill car alarms.