The 7th annual Green Car of the Year will be named on Thursday, November 17, at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Selected by Green Car Journal and a panel of jurors, the winner will represent one of four competing automotive technologies: battery electric, compressed natural gas, diesel or gasoline hybrid.
Not being a juror, I’m free to share my own views on each. I’ll also pose a guess on which car Green Car Journal and its panel will pick. I encourage you to do the same.
Here, alphabetically, are the five entries:
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Ford Focus Electric
The Focus Electric uses an ubiquitous lithium-ion battery pack but also the company’s 6.6-kW charger hardware (doubling the capability/halving the recharge time of competitors). Ford also notes that soy foam and wood fibers are part of the car’s green credentials, as well as its Best Buy-available charging unit containing 60-percent recycled materials. Soy, eh? There’s a famous photo of Henry Ford, hammer in hand, displaying the robustness of experimental soybean bodywork.
Honda Civic GX
Honda’s Civic GX, powered by compressed natural gas, has been on sale to the public since 2005, even earlier in the fleet market. CNG combustion comes with an enviably clean emissions profile. Piloting a Civic GX gets you into many HOV lanes around the country. And we seem to have abundant reserves of the stuff. For home refueling, you’ll need a dedicated compressor taking its gas line’s oz./sq. in. up to the requisite thousands of psi.
Mitsubishi i
The i-MiEV has been on sale in its home-market Japan since 2009. Our i is a wide-body version of this electric vehicle, as such bracketing between Japanese extreme kei-car tidiness and, for instance, the Ford Focus Electric’s compact status. Its styling is funky-fun; its $27,990-$29,990 price makes the i the most frugal of BEVs (as in battery electric vehicles). We certainly had good clean-green fun with the earlier i-MiEV.
Toyota Prius v
Continuing this trend of one-letter car names, the v is Toyota’s first move in expanding the Prius nameplate; this one, a roomier crossover-like variant still retaining Synergy Drive virtues of excellent fuel economy. Others on the way (and, I’ll bet, future Green Car of the Year candidates) include a plug-in and a smaller compact version. Like the ur-Prius, they’re sure to carry just about every hybrid trick known to automotive science.
Volkswagen Passat TDI
This is the new Passat, built in North America and a bit upsized from previous VWs of this moniker. The TDI portion of its name implies it’s a turbocharged diesel (which, not incidentally, also characterized last year’s Green Car of the Year, sibling Audi’s A3 TDI). Its EPA-Combined 43 mpg is impressive indeed. Any “Clean Diesel,” though, should be put in perspective: They’re about as clean as the average gasoline car—not BEV zero-emissions (but for the power company supplying the juice), nor hybrid AT-PZEV.
A good technical competition
As noted in these capsule descriptions, each propulsion technology has its advantages and shortcomings. Among other aspects I might cite: I’ll be more confident about BEVs in anything but niche markets once I hear they’re proving useful in all climates. Heating especially involves a significant draw on energy—at a time when battery output is at its most challenged. And BEV batteries have a much harder life than those in traditional hybrids.
CNG has its proponents, including loads of fleets that profit from central refueling. Range is a lot better than a BEV’s, but gives up more than little to traditional gasoline. And—a word of experience—don’t try public CNG refueling right after the school day begins. The place will be crammed with yellow buses.
Diesels clearly aren’t the clattery beasts of song and legend (though, curiously, pickup truck drivers seem to prefer them that way). And I’m really impressed with diesel frugality and low-end torque. However, especially in a Green Car of the Year setting, I’d quibble with the term “Clean Diesel.”
Gasoline hybrids, especially as exemplified by Toyota’s Synergy Drive, have set commendable records of high mpg and low emissions. In our own comparison testing involving just about every venue we could devise, the gasoline hybrid beat the diesel which in turn beat the standard (albeit advanced-technology) gasoline car. And, as a nontrivial observation, in more than a decade of operation, their batteries are proving to last the life of the car—regardless of climate.
Who’s going to win?
If logic alone dictated a winner, a Prius with enhanced versatility—hey, I’ve even got a name for it: the “v”—would seem a good choice. However, it also lacks pizzazz.
Who should win Green Car of the Year?
My money is on the Ford Focus Electric. How about yours?
Come on back on Thursday, November 17, and we can compare notes with the Green Car Journal and its jurors.
Related posts:
- Green Car of the Year Finalists Announced – 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show
- 2013 Ford Flex – 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show Preview
- Ford Fiesta ST Concept 5-Door – 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show Preview
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