In an anticlimactic repeat, Honda's natural-gas burning Civic GX topped the annual "greenest vehicles" of the year listing being published this morning by the non-profit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
It is the 12th year the Washington-based environmental and economic lobbying group has published its Green Book Online, which ranks passenger cars and light trucks for overall environmental impact.
Although the list for the 2009 model year contained no big surprises, it was marked by the reappearance of General Motors Corp., with trio of small cars among the dozen "greenest" vehicles in the market - the Chevrolet Cobalt compact and its Pontiac G5 twin placed eighth overall and the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact finished10th.
The GM cars, which were rated highly for their fuel economy, knocked Ford's Focus off the "greenest" list after its appearance there last year as the only domestic car in the top twelve.
The Ford didn't get a lower score - but the average scores in the top 12 were higher this year than last.
Evolution, Not Revolution
Generally, the 2009 list was marked by continued improvements in the fuel economy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions of scores of vehicles rather than by stellar performances from just one or two models.
Manufacturers are fine-tuning their engines and transmissions, improving materials, and adding emission control technologies, said ACEEE transportation program director Therese Langer.
"We are seeing a lot of incremental improvements" she said, "More direct-injection systems, improvements to the internal combustion engine. It's amazing how little of the market [now] falls below 'bin 5' standards," for tailpipe emissions.
Vehicles rated lower than bin 5 are generally described as environmentally "dirty."
Diesels Step Up
One notable event this year, Langer said, is that the onset of clean diesel fuel and improved diesel emissions systems, coupled with growing demand from consumers for smaller, more efficient vehicles, have put diesels "in the running among environmentally preferable vehicles."
Volkswagen's diesel-fueled Touareg SUV, which ranged as the dirtiest, or "meanest" vehicle of the year in 2008, isn't offered in the U.S. as an '09 model, so the gasoline-or-E85 ethanol "flex-fuel" Hummer H2 from General Motors Corp. fell into that unenviable spot this year.
ACEEE ranks vehicles for overall environmental friendliness, and also ranks them by category (right) to help car shoppers find the greenest vehicles in each segment. It rates vehicles on numeric scale with 100 points marking theoretical perfection. So far the best any vehicle has done is 57 points--the score awarded his year to the Honda Civic GX.
The ratings consider fuel efficiency, estimated fuel expenses, tailpipe emissions that affect human health, emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming - both from fuel consumption and from the vehicle manufacturing process (a score using weight-based industry estimates of carbon output)
Greenest
In the overall rankings, the Honda Civic GX outscored the rest of the field for the sixth consecutive year.
While not the industry's fuel-efficiency leader, the Civic GX has cleaner emissions and produces less greenhouse gas than any other mass-market vehicle sold in the U.S today.
The car is a standard Honda Civic converted by the manufacturer to run on compressed natural gas, which has about 30 percent less carbon content and about 95 percent fewer smog-causing emissions than gasoline.
Toyota's Prius hybrid placed second with 53 points; Honda's Civic hybrid was third with a score of 51; the two-seat Smart from Daimler ranked fourth with 49 points and Toyota's Yaris subcompact and Nissan's Altima hybrid sedan tied for fifth place on the green list with 46 points each.
Meanest
The mean list was dominated by heavy pickups, SUVs and exotic sports cars with gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing engines.
Following the 16-point Hummer H2 flex-fuel SUV at the bottom of the rankings as the nation's "meanest" or least-environmentally friendly vehicles were the V-12 powered Lamborghini Murcielago sports car and the heavy-duty GMC Yukon 2500 SUV, tied at 18 points; and the Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG ans ML63 AMG "high performance" SUVs, the Lincoln Navigator SUV, Maybach V-12 luxury car and GMC Sierra K2500 heavy duty pickup, at 19 points each.
Source: Straightline
It is the 12th year the Washington-based environmental and economic lobbying group has published its Green Book Online, which ranks passenger cars and light trucks for overall environmental impact.
Although the list for the 2009 model year contained no big surprises, it was marked by the reappearance of General Motors Corp., with trio of small cars among the dozen "greenest" vehicles in the market - the Chevrolet Cobalt compact and its Pontiac G5 twin placed eighth overall and the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact finished10th.
The GM cars, which were rated highly for their fuel economy, knocked Ford's Focus off the "greenest" list after its appearance there last year as the only domestic car in the top twelve.
The Ford didn't get a lower score - but the average scores in the top 12 were higher this year than last.
Evolution, Not Revolution
Generally, the 2009 list was marked by continued improvements in the fuel economy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions of scores of vehicles rather than by stellar performances from just one or two models.
Manufacturers are fine-tuning their engines and transmissions, improving materials, and adding emission control technologies, said ACEEE transportation program director Therese Langer.
"We are seeing a lot of incremental improvements" she said, "More direct-injection systems, improvements to the internal combustion engine. It's amazing how little of the market [now] falls below 'bin 5' standards," for tailpipe emissions.
Vehicles rated lower than bin 5 are generally described as environmentally "dirty."
Diesels Step Up
One notable event this year, Langer said, is that the onset of clean diesel fuel and improved diesel emissions systems, coupled with growing demand from consumers for smaller, more efficient vehicles, have put diesels "in the running among environmentally preferable vehicles."
Volkswagen's diesel-fueled Touareg SUV, which ranged as the dirtiest, or "meanest" vehicle of the year in 2008, isn't offered in the U.S. as an '09 model, so the gasoline-or-E85 ethanol "flex-fuel" Hummer H2 from General Motors Corp. fell into that unenviable spot this year.
ACEEE ranks vehicles for overall environmental friendliness, and also ranks them by category (right) to help car shoppers find the greenest vehicles in each segment. It rates vehicles on numeric scale with 100 points marking theoretical perfection. So far the best any vehicle has done is 57 points--the score awarded his year to the Honda Civic GX.
The ratings consider fuel efficiency, estimated fuel expenses, tailpipe emissions that affect human health, emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming - both from fuel consumption and from the vehicle manufacturing process (a score using weight-based industry estimates of carbon output)
Greenest
In the overall rankings, the Honda Civic GX outscored the rest of the field for the sixth consecutive year.
While not the industry's fuel-efficiency leader, the Civic GX has cleaner emissions and produces less greenhouse gas than any other mass-market vehicle sold in the U.S today.
The car is a standard Honda Civic converted by the manufacturer to run on compressed natural gas, which has about 30 percent less carbon content and about 95 percent fewer smog-causing emissions than gasoline.
Toyota's Prius hybrid placed second with 53 points; Honda's Civic hybrid was third with a score of 51; the two-seat Smart from Daimler ranked fourth with 49 points and Toyota's Yaris subcompact and Nissan's Altima hybrid sedan tied for fifth place on the green list with 46 points each.
Meanest
The mean list was dominated by heavy pickups, SUVs and exotic sports cars with gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing engines.
Following the 16-point Hummer H2 flex-fuel SUV at the bottom of the rankings as the nation's "meanest" or least-environmentally friendly vehicles were the V-12 powered Lamborghini Murcielago sports car and the heavy-duty GMC Yukon 2500 SUV, tied at 18 points; and the Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG ans ML63 AMG "high performance" SUVs, the Lincoln Navigator SUV, Maybach V-12 luxury car and GMC Sierra K2500 heavy duty pickup, at 19 points each.
Source: Straightline
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