ACEEE Lists The Greenest and “Meanest” Vehicles Sold in the US
By Chris Haak
02.25.2008
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a Washington-based nonprofit group financed by foundations, electric utilities, and some federal agencies has released its list of the 12 greenest vehicles sold in the US in 2008 as well as the 12 “meanest” (meaning least environmentally friendly) vehicles.
The organization’s methodology (available here) claims to consider fuel economy, pollution emissions, CO2 (which is really a proxy for fuel consumption, since consuming fuel releases CO2, no matter how sophisticated emission controls are), vehicle weight, and even its cradle-to-grave environmental impact. On that last point, I found it the #2 green choice on the list below to be surprising, since the widely-criticized CNW Marketing Research report accused the Prius of having a larger overall environmental footprint than some Hummer models.
The list of the top 12 greenest vehicles sold in the US are:
1. Honda Civic GX (pictured above)
2. Toyota Prius
3. Honda Civic Hybrid
4. Smart ForTwo Convertible/Coupe
5. Toyota Yaris
6. Nissan Altima Hybrid
7. Toyota Corolla
8. Mini Cooper/Clubman
9. Ford Focus
10. Toyota Camry Hybrid
11. Honda Civic
12. Honda Fit
The Honda Civic GX is powered by CNG (compressed natural gas), so the Prius is rated as the greenest gasoline-powered vehicle. Every vehicle on the greenest list is built by an Asian manufacturer except for #4 (Smart ForTwo), #8 (Mini Cooper/Clubman), and #9 (Ford Focus).
You’d probably guess that their “hall of shame” of the most pollutting/environmentally impacting vehicles would include a lot of domestic brands, then. However, the worst are actually mostly European diesels and expensive, high performance vehicles. Although diesel-powered vehicles have 20-30% lower fuel consumption than comparable gasoline-powered vehicles, they also emit much more NOX and other pollutants than their gasoline-powered counterparts. Clean diesel technology such as BlueTec and Honda’s solution are coming in the next year or two, so perhaps many of these diesels will fall off the list, but right now, ACEEE does not consider diesel engines to be clean enough for consideration among the greenest vehicles.
The 12 “meanest” vehicles for 2008 are:
1. Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI (pictured above)
2. Bugatti Veyron V16
3. Mercedes-Benz GL320 CDI
4. Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel
5. Mercedes-Benz R320 CDI
6. Lamborghini Murcielago/Murcielago Roadster V12
7. Mercedes-Benz ML320 CDI
8. Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG
9. Hummer H2
10. GMC Yukon 2500 6.0L
11. Bentley Azure V8
12. Bentley Arnage V8
The Mercedes-Benz diesels (which power #s 3, 4, 5, and 7 on the list) really took a beating. The only two domestic vehicles on the list were the Hummer H2 (a favorite target of environmentalists) and the large three quarter ton GMC Yukon 2500.
Cleaning diesel emissions to the levels of gasoline engines will be expensive and the additional cost may mitigate some of the fuel saving advantages inherent in diesel powertrains. For example, would consumers be willing to spend $5,000 extra to save some fuel (and drive a vehicle with its fuel available at fewer service stations)? Also the small cars that make up most of the greenest list probably do not work for everyone’s needs (and certainly not their preferences). But for consumers concerned about their environmental footprint, these lists might be a factor in their decision. I know that I’ll be crossing the Veyron off my shopping list after seeing it here.
COPYRIGHT Full Metal Autos – All Rights Reserved
