Are you interested in an electric vehicle but don’t know where to start to compare their environmental impact?
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has developed a methodology to rank cars according to their impact. It takes into account the raw materials to build the vehicle, emissions from both the manufacturing process and the use of the automobile and the impacts of disposing of the vehicle when it is no longer functional.
They have released their rankings for 2023 models and the top 5 greenest cars are:
- Mini Cooper SE Hardtop 2 Door
- NISSAN LEAF
- MAZDA MX-30
- TOYOTA bZ4X
- Subaru SOLTERRA AWD
See the rest of the list here and for quick reference, here is a guide to the acronyms:
- BEV or EV: battery electric vehicle. These cars run on battery power alone.
- HEV: hybrid electric vehicle which has both a gas/diesel engine and a small battery which allows the car to travel short distances using only its battery
- PHEV: plug-in hybrid electric vehicle has both a gas/diesel engine and a larger battery to travel longer distances on battery power