Before I get too far, I wanted to thank the new readers who volunteered to help with this project. It is greatly appreciated.
Today’s post deals with the greenest new cars in the U.S. for 2011, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. They have recently unveiled their Thirteen Greenest Cars List for 2011 (the list usually consists of twelve, but an error eliminated the current twelfth place and allowed thirteenth to sit in the twelfth spot; ACEEE allowed a tie). The list includes six new models that pushed off models from last year.
Of the models on the list, three are made by Honda. Two each are made by Toyota and General Motors. Nissan, Daimler-Benz (maker of Mercedes-Benz and Smart), Ford, Hyundai, BMW/Mini, and Mazda each claimed one spot on the list.
Cars have always been an interest to me, and I have always been fascinated with fuel-efficient and alternative fuel cars. This list is an excellent resource for what cars are green, and which cars are not.
Interesting findings from the list:
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- The Honda Civic GX topped the list for the eighth year, beating out the all-electric Nissan Leaf. This is because ACEEE’s rating system places a larger emphasis on pollution overall, rather than emissions from the vehicle itself. So, although the Leaf emits nothing from its tailpipe, the generating station that generates the electricity it uses could be very dirty. This explains the Chevrolet Volt’s relatively low ranking, as it is a plug in hybrid. Therefore, the Civic was given more of a nod for its clean emissions.
- The Mazda2 manual was the vehicle accidentally emitted from the list. It barely edged out the Chevrolet Volt for twelfth place.
- Many of the regular gasoline vehicles on the list are equipped with manual transmissions, as opposed to the more popular automatic transmission. In fact, the only vehicles on the list equipped with automatic transmissions are the Honda Civic GX, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Insight, and Chevrolet Volt.
- The Volt scored relatively low because of curb weight and lower fuel economy compared to other hybrids on the list.
- The Smart ForTwo lost to the Civic GX and Leaf by only one point.
- The Chevrolet Cruze Eco and Ford Fiesta SFE are versions of their vehicle that have been suited for better fuel economy than other models. Therefore, not all Cruzes and Fiestas could be considered as environmentally friendly as these (though they are still relatively green vehicles).
- The Honda Civic GX is not the regular Civic, but a version not available nationwide that runs on natural gas. The redesigned 2012 model will be available nationwide.
All this said, here are this year’s Top Thirteen most environmentally friendly vehicles:
1. Honda Civic GX Green Score: 54
2. Nissan Leaf Green Score: 54
3. Smart ForTwo (manual) Green Score: 53
4. Toyota Prius Green Score: 52
5. Honda Civic Hybrid Green Score: 51
6. Honda Insight Green Score: 50
7. Ford Fiesta SFE (manual) Green Score: 50
8. Chevrolet Cruze Eco (manual) Green Score: 49
9. Hyundai Elantra (manual) Green Score: 49
10. Mini Cooper (manual) Green Score: 49
11. Toyota Yaris (manual) Green Score: 49
12. Mazda2 (manual) Green Score: 48
13. Chevrolet Volt Green Score: 48
The ACEEE also lists cars that are “Greener Choices” on their website, as well as the vehicles that are the greenest in their class. These lists are available on their website. They also list the “Least Green” Cars as well.
Source:
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy: http://www.aceee.org/press/2011/02/latest-technologies-place-dont-win-years-greenest-vehicl
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