Green Car of the Year Winners 2006-2012 (PHOTOS)

From Mother Nature Network's Melissa Hincha Ownby:

For the last seven years, Green Car Journal has recognized the best in eco-friendly motoring via the magazine’s Green Car of the Year contest. Each year the magazine assembles a judging panel comprising automotive experts, journalists and environmental advocates. The sole task of the panel is to determine which Green Car of the Year finalist deserves recognition as the best of the best for that model year.

Green Car Journal started handing out the award with model year 2006 vehicles. Over the years the magazine has recognized several hybrids, two clean diesels, a plug-in vehicle, a natural gas vehicle and even a full-sized SUV as the Green Car of the Year.

List and captions courtesy of Mother Nature Network

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Comments

[Bklein153]

11:55 AM on 04/11/2012

Even the king of all green cars is not doing well
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47016557

Shows that even for people who are open to these cars are not very loyal. Or its just Liberals who think if they buy a green car once it will give them special dispensation to get into environmental heaven

[MSROADKILL612]

01:08 AM on 03/31/2012

PS

so in short - i love cng - if $1pg from a home fill is true & a 200m commute is doable & a fair chance at a retail refill at double that if u go further, more us families should consider at least adding one to their carpool. $1pg is almost free relatively

b/

sad that motor industry have been such Luddites - the it revolution went over their heads til they were the last men standing - & still are - cant believe how backward they have been in availing themselves of new tek - the green possibilities are endless - yet they tout mp3 connectivity

c/
am sad the

[Kenz300]

08:53 PM on 03/26/2012

One national franchise like McDonalds or Walmart needs to embrace electric charging stations.

If every McDonalds had 2 spaces set aside for electric charging that would be a tremendous boost to electric vehicles and it would give customers another reason to stop.

[vetxcl]

03:51 PM on 03/17/2012

Another busted video from AOLpo. AOLpo seems to be sliding toward the bottom.

[Kenz300]

08:09 PM on 03/16/2012

Energy efficiency saves money.

People complain about high gas prices and then get into a SUV or pickup truck getting less than 18 mpg.

Every auto manufacturer is coming out with an electric or hybrid vehicle this year or next.

Every auto maker now sells a vehicle that gets 40+ mpg.

GM, Ford and Chrysler are now producing CNG fueled trucks with fuel costing the equivalent of $1.85 per gallon.

If you want to save some money on fuel buy a vehicle that gets twice the MPG next time.

[lbsaltzman]

09:07 AM on 03/13/2012

Calling over sized SUVs green because they are hybrids is a bad joke. Cars get green when they are manufactured at plants that get there electricity from either solar or wind energy. And when those cars are electric and get recharged at solar stations or from central power that is renewable and sustainable.

[Bklein153]

11:57 AM on 04/11/2012

Do the employees at said green plants only eat organic foods too? When does it end!!

[GreenTechAuto1]

09:14 PM on 03/09/2012

lets no let the EV revolution slip through our hands again, its really time to embrace it . If EV charging structure is implemented nation wide, than not a single drop of oil would be imported ever again. Go Green, Go Electric !!

follow @GreenTechAuto1

[eyeinthesky1221]

10:43 PM on 03/09/2012

and where do you think electricity comes from?

[GreenTechAuto1]

10:57 PM on 03/09/2012

Electricity comes coal, nuclear, & natural gas, guess what buddy, we have more than enough of all 3 here at home which means no imports and millions of job creation !!!

[racebaiter]

06:41 PM on 03/09/2012

Sorry people but the Fisker is made in the US with almost half the compoments supplied by American business including GM, Goodyear, TRW, and A123 Systems. (I'm not sure if the tires on the Karma are actually made here but Goodyear is an American company). I would persue this further but right now I'm going out for a spin in my $99,000 AMERICAN MADE Karma. Buy union, Buy USA.

[AlonzoQuijana]

03:18 PM on 03/09/2012

I see that our U.S. taxpayer subsidized Fisker car from Finland broke down before Consumers Report could even get it on the track. And now more and more Teslas -- also subsidized -- are turning into bricks (they lose their charge and you have to replace a $40,000 battery -- even the wheels lock so almost impossible to tow).

[JosephTX]

03:38 PM on 03/09/2012

Those Teslas aren't "bricking"; the morons just weren't charging the batteries, and then wondering why their cars would die on the roads.

And at the end of the day, no vehicles are as heavily subsidized as combustible-engine cars. Why do you think oil in the US costs half of what it does in the rest of the world? Spoilers: it's not because America's awesome, it's because oil's extremely subsidized in this country. Meanwhile, the biggest "subsidies" that Tesla's getting are tax breaks for NOT profiting off the pillaging of limited resources: something that should be a requirement in the 21st century.

[AlonzoQuijana]

06:16 PM on 03/09/2012

WTI and Brent have more or less the same price here as they do elsewhere. If you are referring to gasoline, that is a function of very high taxes in Europe and relatively lower taxes here.

[eyeinthesky1221]

10:45 PM on 03/09/2012

Joseph you know nothing about oil prices, the cost in Europe is higher because they have a much higher tax on gas, if you remove the extra tax then the price is the same.

[ModMark]

11:55 AM on 03/14/2012

The original Tesla was more of a concept car, an expensive toy for the rich.

It used laptop type battery, 6,831 of them. The batteries produced by LG Chem and A123 are much different.

[vetxcl]

04:03 PM on 03/17/2012

And yet it got built, just like the original Apple got built and sold, and now the company is making a more affordable e car and has plans to build an even more affordable e car. You don't agree with their business plan? So, go build your own.

Nice that you can recognise some details, but fail to complete any valid conclusion. You might want to check into where Microsoft got it's start or Edison Electric. From humble beginnings; greatness evolves.

I'm sure you have a point to your inferred negativity.

[realityCheckInTheMail]

01:54 PM on 03/09/2012

The winner for 2012!

A natural gas car. Aka "the frackmobile"!

Awesome! The greenos right hand doesn't even know what the left is doing! Hahahaha!!!

[AlonzoQuijana]

03:19 PM on 03/09/2012

CNG is certainly a good option for diesel trucks. If you do an energy equivalent calculation, you get about $2.00 a gal diesel from CNG, compared to the $4.00 at the pump.

[jshms]

04:43 PM on 03/09/2012

would love to convert my diesel to cng, problem is $6K price tag and two cng stations in houston of which the closest one is 20 miles away

[vetxcl]

04:05 PM on 03/17/2012

Biodiesel's much better on the engine. Truckers already use it and recommend it.

[vetxcl]

04:07 PM on 03/17/2012

Yup. Their labs in area 51 are working on a complete take-over of the oil industry right this very second.

In other words, you sound like a CONservative, CONman.

[realityCheckInTheMail]

06:27 PM on 03/17/2012

Hey, I'm pro-fracking, pro-natural gas.

I'll vote for Obama, since he endorsed fracking in his most recent SOTU. I think a Democratic pro-fracking President will be the best thing for this country.

It sounds like you are poorly informed, like most pAtiSan hackS are...

[dogface]

12:47 PM on 03/09/2012

Who picks these? Most are crap having nothing to do with being a green car. The NG Civic, Jetta TDI, and Prius barely rate. The A3 TDI is overpriced for mass sales. A true green car will be AWD and achieve or exceed 60 mpg at sustained interstate speeds of 84 mph. (The interstates were designed for sustained speeds of 85 - thus the 75 mph "speed limit" and frequent, but not always, 9 mph grace window.) They've been making Formula One cars less than 2000 pounds that scream over 325kph in which drivers walk away from accidents. It will take nothing to mass produce AWD cars under 2000 pounds achieving >60 mpg at the pokey speed of 84 mph.

[golfvue3]

08:19 PM on 03/09/2012

It won't take "nothing". It will take a lot of money - and may be impossible.
Formula One cars cost ~$4 million and only get 3 mpg.

I own a Mercury Mariner hybrid and love it. 30+ mpg with AWD. Will buy another for my next car (Ford Escape next time).

[eyeinthesky1221]

10:48 PM on 03/09/2012

the race cars are plastic shells no heat air or anything plus they are roll bars everywhere there is no way anyone except you would want one.

[johnr49]

01:13 PM on 03/10/2012

Plus they transport only one person and have no room for even a couple of bags from the supermarket, much less a few suitcases, golf clubs or whatever.