At greenercars.org, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy released its 18th annual comprehensive environmental ratings for vehicles.
The following vehicles comprise the Greenest List for 2015:
1. Mercedes-Benz Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Coupe
2. Chevrolet Spark EV
3. Fiat 500E
4. Toyota Prius C
5. Nissan Leaf
6. Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid
7. Lexus CT 200H
8. Honda Civic Hybrid
9. Honda Civic Natural Gas
10. Mitsubishi Mirage
11. Ford Focus Electric
12. Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid
The Smart ForTwo Electric Drive tops the Greenest List once again this year with the highest Green Score ever. Toyota’s Prius Plug-in and original Prius perform exceedingly well again in 2015, jointly taking spot #6. The original Prius also scored high. At #10, the Mitsubishi Mirage was the sole conventional vehicle to earn a spot on the list this year, although the conventional Smart ForTwo is not listed only because its all-electric counterpart had already claimed a spot on the Greenest List. Six out of 12 places in this year’s Greenest List were claimed by plug-in electric vehicles.
Electric vehicles claimed additional spots on this year’s Greenest List largely due to the inclusion of one vehicle that just missed a spot on the 2014 Greenest List (the Ford Focus Electric), as well as two vehicles that were left off the list last year due to low sales volume (the Spark EV and Fiat 500E). Two mid-size vehicles also appear on the Greenest List: the Nissan Leaf and Toyota Prius Plug-in, indicating that green need not mean small. This year’s list also features a diverse array of manufacturers: nine different automakers are represented by the 12 top scoring vehicles, including two American manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford) and two European manufacturers.
Published in the April 2015 Edition of American Recycler News
