Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 Mercedes-Benz A-Class

While Mercedes-Benz is a leader in clean diesel technology, the German luxury brand has been lagging behind its arch-rival BMW when it comes to the adoption of green technology such as stop/start in its lower-end models. This omission will soon change, as the A-Class and B-Class models, which are not sold in the U.S. market, will be granted the technology shortly. While consumers will likely appreciate the fuel savings most, the brand will be happy to report the reduction in carbon dioxide, which is regulated in most of the world.

The stop/start technology that will be used by Mercedes-Benz is a very basic system and is shared with the smart brand. Because the starter will be used much more often than normal, a larger starter motor and battery is required. BMW harnesses a portion of the energy usually lost when braking to recharge this more powerful battery. Mercedes' system does not allow this capability, though the automaker claims it is hard at work on the next-generation version of this technology which they say will incorporate regenerative braking.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req'd]

Today, we will be listing the top ten easiest to implement green technologies that already exist today. Now, this is a rough list, every car is different and not all of these technologies are applicable to each one. But, let's take a look at each one and see what gains there could be from them, starting with the easiest one, LED bulbs.

LED stands for light emitting diode, and they are already common in all types of devices. One very desirable trait that they posses is that they last a very long time. They also can be quite bright. Additionally, the bulbs draw very little electricity, which paves the way for some of our other gas-saving technologies later on the list.

Next on the list are smaller wheels. With DUBS being ultra-hip these days, I'm not going to go crazy and say we should all go back to fourteen inch wheels. But, style is getting in the way of substance when our wheels get much larger than seventeen or eighteen inches. Also, consider going narrower! Wide tires convince some that the car must be faster. In reality, most of the time they are just using more gas.

Keep reading after the jump for the rest of our commentary.