Chevy Volt named Green Car of the Year
The second-generation 2016 Chevrolet Volt has been named 2016 Green Car of the Year at 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show. Green Car Journal editor Ron Cogan announced the award on Thursday, an honour widely recognised as the auto industry's important environmental accolade, and said the car won because of its extended range. Government fuel-economy figures show that the hybrid gas-electric Volt can go 53 miles on electric power alone and 420 miles on gas and battery power. Other finalists for the 2016 Green Car of the Year award included the Audi A3 e-tron, Honda Civic, Hyundai Sonata and Toyota Prius. This is the second time Green Car Journal has recognised the Volt, which also won the title with its first-generation model five years ago.

The Green Car of the Year award is put together by the Green Car Journal and is its pick for the new car with the smallest footprint that year. A few weeks back, we covered the announcement of the finalists and presented them to some controversy due to the lack of any full electric vehicles and the presence of a gas-only car – the 2016 Honda Civic.

We rationalized that this was due to its focus on the fully scaled impact these cars would make – the Civic improving fuel efficiency on hundreds of thousands of cars would make more of an impact on overall emissions than Tesla, for instance, selling 50,000 all electric Model S sedans.

I understand that perspective, but to me, that’s still not a “green car,” but rather the car making the biggest impact on overall emissions. Tesla, with its zero-emissions vehicles and strong focus on sustainable manufacturing and supply chain, make a stronger case for an individual car. Several folks suggested that CleanTechnica start our own “Clean Car of the Year” award to fill the gap, and we may just have to take them up on that challenge.

Having set the stage and primed you for the big reveal, here are the 2016 finalists, one last time: Toyota Prius, Chevrolet Volt, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, Honda Civic, and Audi A3 e-tron. The crowd favorite from the comments of the finalists announcement was the new and improved Chevrolet Volt.

Tensions were high at the press conference today, and after all the buildup, Ron Cogen, Editor and Director of Green Car Journal, announced that the 2nd-generation, 2016 Chevy Volt was the winner.

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