Top Ten Green Machines
Looking for the most environmentally-friendly vehicles on the market? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scores all vehicles via air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from 0 to 10 with 10 being the best. Forbes narrowed the list down further, selecting those who scored 9.5 or higher in air pollution, then ranked them from 1 to 10 via their greenhouse gas scores. Many of the vehicles tied, showing just how close many of today's "green machines" are to each other regardless of manufacturer.
The top ten, from highest to lowest, are:
- 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid
- 2006 Toyota Prius
- 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid
- 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid
- 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid
- 2007 Ford Focus
- 2006 Mazda3
- 2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid
- 2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid
- 2006 Saturn Ion (pictured)
[Source: Forbes]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DigitalAngel 8:42AM (7/31/2008)
Partially true. Civic is better, Camry is not. Mazda3 (2.0) 6.8 Camry (2.4) 7.3
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1985 Gripen 1:11PM (7/06/2006)
If you figure that the powerplant is really what generates the emissions, not the body, this is really more a "top-5" list.
The Prius and Camry Hybrid share the same powerplant, the Escape Hybrid and Mariner Hybrid share the same powerplant, and I believe the Focus and the Mazda3 share the same powerplant.
The only surprise to me on there is the Saturn Ion. Bud sadly, the Ion is to replaced soon with a rebadged Opel.
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DigitalAngel 8:37AM (7/31/2008)
Depends which Focus you are talking about. The Mazda3 is built on the same platform as the Euro spec Focus, but not the US.
Jeff 2:35PM (7/06/2006)
Where's the insight?
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doug 9:01PM (7/06/2006)
It is intersting that Ford gets killed by environmentalists for poor gas mileage/commitments not met - improving truck mileage 25%, hybrid plans, yet 6 of the 10 are Ford products (Ford owns Mazda). And soon they will make a hybrid Mazda Tribute.....
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John Panagakos 10:55AM (7/07/2006)
This article is silly. You list the Escapce and the Mariner twice each although it's the same SUV with diferent badging so all four of those selections are actually one.
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physics 12:10PM (7/07/2006)
insight has been discontinued.
why are the fords double posted?
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Michael Kilpatrick 7:34PM (7/07/2006)
Just to clarify, the Prius and Camry Hybrids do not share the same powerplant. The Prius uses a 1.5L 1NZ-FXE engine, while the Camry Hybrid uses a hybrid version of the 2.3L 2AZ-FE.
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jarrett man 8:13AM (7/11/2006)
This list has obviously been fabricated by some other criteria other than the stated "air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions". The other non-hybrid Civics and also Camrys all give off fewer pollutants than these Mazdas and Fords, as well as getting better gas milage i.e. fewer carbon emissions/mile. Also, the Honda Insight, which gets better gas mileage and has fewer emissions than ALL these vehicles is not included. It is not, as a previous poster wrote, discontinued, you can still buy one on Honda's web site. I wonder who's iterests this list was designed to serve.
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thrillhouse 1:43PM (7/25/2006)
Its designed to serve Honda and Toyota, you know the auto industry's golden children of the moment. The big three are evil right now and the Japanese "care about the environment".
They worked real hard on this article too. They got numbers from the EPA, who has come under heavy criticism lately as their estmates are so horridly flawed. Case in point: the honda civic hybrid. Consumer reports showed that the EPA is off by as much as 40% on the fuel milage estimates. How do you think their "air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions" numbers stack up?
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