Honda Accord Hybrid.
A panel of top Canadian automotive journalists has selected the Honda Accord Hybrid from among five other category winners as the vehicle that best combines environmental benefits and mass-market appeal.
The Accord had won the Hybrid category, in a tie with Volkswagen’s Jetta Turbo Hybrid, in an earlier selection round, after extensive testing and assessments by the 19 judges.
The category winners include:
Battery-Electric/Zero Emission – Nissan LEAF
Plug-in Hybrid – Ford C-MAX Energi
Full Hybrid – (Tie) Honda Accord Hybrid; Volkswagen Jetta Turbo Hybrid
Efficient Gasoline or Diesel Engine Combustion – Mazda3 2.0-litre
Efficient Three-Row Family Vehicle – Mazda5
The Canadian Green Car Award recognizes vehicles, widely available in Canada, that offer both impressive environmental attributes with strong mass-market appeal, since any product can have a significant impact only if it sells in large numbers.
As a result, the assessments combined “objective” criteria, such as fuel economy, emissions and price, with the judges’ evaluations of performance, driving experience, value, features and “green” qualities. Those environmental benefits included not only fuel efficiency and emissions but also the use of sustainable or recyclable materials and measures taken by manufacturers to green their operations.
The competition began with judges submitting five nominees for each category. They could choose any vehicle as long as it met basic “green” criteria based on technology type and fuel economy. The top picks from those lists became the 16 entries — four in the Battery-Electric category; three in each of the others. This open process, in which eligibility doesn’t depend on whether a manufacturer is willing to pay a substantial entry fee, is in line with other global green car awards and makes the program a more meaningful gauge for consumers.
Other nominees were the Tesla Model S, Ford Focus EV, Kia Soul EV, Cadillac ELR, Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid, Infiniti Q50 Hybrid, Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, Volkswagen Jetta TDI, Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid and Kia Rondo’
Ford’s Fusion Hybrid won the 2013 inaugural Canadian Green Car Award.