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The Greenest Electric Cars of 2016
Vehicle-related air pollutants have decreased by 98 percent since the 1960s in Los Angeles, despite its residents burning three times as much gasoline and diesel fuel, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study credits greener cars as the catalyst behind improved air quality. This goes to show that going green can absolutely make a positive impact on the environment. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Energy says that, on average, it costs about half as much to drive an electric vehicle as it does its gasoline-fueled counterpart.
Fortunately, there are plenty of green vehicle options on the market, ranging from hybrid to full-electric options. Here’s the scoop on some of the greenest cars of 2016 and their environmentally friendly features.
A3 Sportback e-tron
This sporty plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is part of Audi’s energy program. Its features include a carbon offset program, residential solar panel installation availability and a home charger. After running out of electric power, drivers can use auto mode to recapture energy and help recharge it while relying on its hybrid gas function.
Fiat 500e
With a single-speed transmission and 83-kilowatt electric motor, the Fiat 500e gets an impressive 87-mile range and 4-hour recharge time. The downside is that the vehicle is currently only sold in California. However, green enthusiasts can check out a site like DriveTime to find a used vehicle dealership in their area to find the model they’re looking for.
Chevrolet Volt
The Chevrolet Volt has made the cut for one of the greenest vehicles since its debut in 2010. It was one of the first modern hybrid vehicles and has helped usher in the mainstream eco-friendly car options. The earliest Volts had a 35-mile electric range with today’s model boasting 50 miles. Consumer Reports tested the latest Volt and found it made a smooth transition from electric to gas mode with an increased battery capacity compared to previous versions.
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius made an appearance in this year’s Super Bowl lineup of commercials. Like Chevrolet’s Volt, the Toyota Prius was a founder in the modern hybrid vehicle movement. The Prius gets an average of 50 mpg and reports indicate a smooth ride with solid acceleration.
Nissan Leaf
The Nissan Leaf debuted its 2016 model with a stronger battery that increased from 24 kWh to 30 kWh of capacity. This year’s model also comes with NissanConnect, which has Bluetooth phone and text messaging capabilities. For drivers who are going to be away from their cars for a while or are eager to check in on its charging status, the Leaf also comes with a remote monitoring capability to check its charging status.
Hyundai Sonata
This hybrid plug-in comes in at 50 mpg and can run 24 miles on its electric battery before needing a charge and switching over to its fuel engine. Its combined hybrid battery and fuel tank get about 40 mpg on the road. The Hyundai Sonata also has a reputation for its quiet ride and improved fuel efficiency.
Cars are becoming greener and more affordable than ever. Drivers should check the U.S. Department of Energy website to learn more about tax credits of up to $7,500 for all-electric and plug-in hybrid car purchases in or after 2010. Credit amounts vary on the battery capacity required to power the vehicle. Green drivers may also qualify for state or local incentives just for driving eco-friendly vehicles that are sporty, fun to drive and less damaging to the environment.
42 Comments on "The Greenest Electric Cars of 2016"
dave thompson on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 6:04 pm
What is the criteria for a green car? How can anything produced by industrial civilization be considered green in the first place? Who believes this tripe?
paulo1 on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 6:06 pm
It would be interesting for the article to have included the sticker price, as well as the time of payback with fuel savings. Also, how many barrels of fuel goes in to each car at time of manufacture, what is the battery life, battery replacement costs, servicing requirements, warranty requirements?
I doubt the Audi is an affordable option. Pretty hard to replace the Prius in this line up.
In two weeks I am putting my MC back on the road. It beats them all in every category for cost, payback, utility, and enjoyment. Meanwhile I’ll just use the 30 year old Toyota PU once per week.
geopressure on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 6:18 pm
I think that buying a new 4-runner as opposed to a Land-Cruiser is green… Land-Cruisers get HORRIBLE gas mileage…
dooma on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 6:20 pm
dave t, about the only thing they could possibly mean about green is the colour.
And even then-paint factories are super toxic chemical plants.
makati1 on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 6:47 pm
This is another techie pile of bullshit.
The only ‘green’ car is one painted that color. It takes a huge amount of hydrocarbons to make one possible and an even greater amount to fuel it, keep it running and to dispose of it when it dies.
“Green” tech is a sick joke for sick people.
sunweb on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 6:51 pm
there is a closed mind set that no amount of facts and total picture stressing will penetrate. They are seduced by both their lifestyle and more importantly technology.
onlooker on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 7:38 pm
Yes Sun at this point whereby our predicaments as a species are now quite perspicacious and obvious, only those who wallow in wishful thinking and illusions still exclaim absurdities such as EV and other chimeras.
Pennsyguy on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 8:34 pm
EVs require tons of metals & Rare Earth elements to be mined, transported and processed, plus batteries. They require tar-covered roads and parking lots. With one occupant, about 95% of any car’s energy is used to the vehicle itself. I’m betting on animal–including human–muscle for future transport; think of ancient Rome.
eugene on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 8:47 pm
My read is we are at the stage of creating nice dreams to avoid reality. In the grief cycle, it’s called “bargaining” like I’ll make up stories so reality isn’t true.
We reassure ourselves, and others if possible, that all will be well. It really helps if you can get others to agree as you feel more “right”.
Go Speed Racer on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 10:46 pm
Electric car is ‘Toxic Waste Dump On Wheels’.
What’s a riot is they paint the garbage trucks green. This proves the garbage is good for the environment.
antaris on Sun, 6th Mar 2016 11:42 pm
What is amazing is all the energy exploited till now. I wonder what is left, 10, 15 maybe 20 percent ?
Anonymous on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 12:15 am
Like paulo1 suggests, I would like to see Energy collective do a complete life-cycle analysis on these ‘green cars’ and see how much physical material and embodied energy each one contains compared to a typical gas hog. I dont really think the ‘green cars’ will be all that worse than what 99.9999% of consumers drive now. But such an analysis would show that ‘green’ cars are mostly just blowing green smoke up everyone’s backsides. If these ‘green’ cars are so damned wonderful for the earth and everyone on it, when will I begin to see the supposed tangible improvements they (allegedly bring) with my own eyes?
The Chev ‘GAS’, they mention runs on, wait for ….gaz-o-leen. In fact, all but one , the Fiat, uses again, leaded americant gas-o-leen as its primary energy source. And it gets worse, when you realize its entirely possible to engineer an low emission, pure gas car that can get mileages similar to the ‘green cars’ listed. Without all the unecesarry complexity of a ‘hybrid’.
But from what I have seen, that energy collective website mostly have their collective heads in the sand,or perhaps some other location. Don’t they run articles praising the terrorist uS military for putting up solar panels in some of their bases in the nations they occupy? O yea, they do….
antaris on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 12:20 am
I drive an electric and charge at night. I’m fairly sure it is powered by US carbon. If charged in the day then BC hydro .
Ralph on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 3:15 am
A small electric car has a lot less lifetime energy and resource impact than an SUV. That said, my new Leaf powered nominally by renewable electricity (The electric company claims to buy 80% of its power from renewable sources in the grid ‘market’ and invest in new renewable generating capacity) is 3 times more energy efficient than the most efficient diesel powered car the same size, yet uses 50 time more electricity than my pedal assist electric bicycle.
Davy on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 6:15 am
The issue of good or bad becomes somewhat mute if you consider the whole game is nearing an end. If you approach it from that point of view hybrids and EV’s take on new meaning. What we have now is what we will likely have later. This points to salvage and a hybrid of organic power of human and animals with what can be salvaged from the industrial age. There will be lots of industrial age to salvage.
Man has reshaped the world in his image. Our resources are now predominately industrial man resources. This of course depends on the degree and duration of collapse and the onset of collapse. We are obviously in the process now but without a break event. There has yet to be a break to a definable lower level of human activity with corresponding change to the status quo or business as usual. This bumpy descent of decay and deflation we are in currently may play out for years. There is plenty of people to be disenfranchised and resources yet to be produced and when needed resources to be cannibalized.
EV’s and any other non-internal combustion transport sources have a vital niche in this alternative view of the future. They will offer options in the descent. We do not want all our eggs in one basket. We need to diversify our energy portfolio. Most of all we need new attitudes and lifestyles. For some reason the easiest mitigation efforts are the hardest. Just like population growth. Not hard to just say no whether at the individual or macro level. The same is true for what we eat and how we travel. The cheap and easy efforts are those that the majority does not want to engage in.
To be fair if we were to change our lifestyles and attitudes in mass the status quo would decay quicker because these types of changes though rational and good are also degrowth actions and deflationary. Our whole system is built upon expansion and a fundamental shift away from consumption would mean less activity and less need for so many different types of employments. This means mass unemployment with the corresponding social ills. So many people must be fed and they likely will not get fed with decay and deflation the prominent economic trend.
In this alternative environment of descent green is good and positive. I call it alternative because the status quo narrative is human expansion. The status quo green dreams of a green business as usual or worse a green high tech advanced society is a farce. It is not as bad as the usual brown conservative capitalistic motives of exploitation and growth. This green dreaming though wrong in regards to the truth does serve a purpose. Any build out of these green dreams will give us a little more diversity to our energy options.
It won’t be long and all this will be history. Long could be 15 years or just a few. There is no way to determine our descent trend at the moment other than it is down an energy gradient and at the end of a system lifecycle. Go green!
marmico on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 6:36 am
You should work in the food and hospitality industry. All word salad. What kind of dressing do you want with that?
We need to diversify our energy portfolio.
Do you have any concrete ideas other than the existing slate of petroleum, natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, biomass, wind or solar? Didn’t think so.
Stare at these numbers real hard. The U.S. will barely consume more petroleum in 2016 than it did when The Gipper was running for presidential office in 1980.
http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec1_7.pdf
My word salad order with blue cheese is that the U.S. will never consume as much petroleum as it did in 2005, being 40.3 quads.
Alpha9 on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 9:24 am
The BMW i3 is the most efficient EV on the planet, currently. The Chevy BOLT might give it some competition.
And note, put 2 or 3 EV’s plugged in at home, switch to solar and save Big Money. Better than the stock market, with safe returns.
Then there’s also just buying wind energy where available.
But, the electric motor is SO EFFICIENT, 90%, that even burning coal, you will reduce your carbon output by 50%.
Coal is dirty, but EV’s won’t burn a lot of it, even worst case.
Then there’s the fact that CHINA has reduced coal usage 2 years running.
India coal has PEAKED as Solar is now cheaper then coal, even in India.
Both India and China plan to roll out 100’s of GIGAWATTS of solar and Wind.
If you’re a Repub, you’re the last to know what’s really going on. You’ll have to ask Fox Idiot’s why that is the case.
dave thompson on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 9:44 am
Industrial civilization will not be saved by more industrial civilization.
Kenz300 on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 10:03 am
Electric cars, bikes and mass transit are the future…..fossil fuel ICE cars are the past…………..
Think teen agers vs your grand father………………….
cell phones vs land lines…….
Kenz300 on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 10:05 am
Climate Change is real…. it will impact all of us……
we need to move to clean energy production with wind and solar power and clean energy consumption with electric vehicles………
Fossil fuels are the cause of Climate Change….. we need to deal with the cause….
VW should have focused on electric vehicles instead of TDI diesels…….. NO EMISSIONS………..
Exxon’s Climate Change Cover-Up Is ‘Unparalleled Evil,’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/exxon-evil-bill-mckibben_561e7362e4b028dd7ea5f45f?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green§ion=green
GregT on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 10:21 am
“But, the electric motor is SO EFFICIENT, 90%, that even burning coal, you will reduce your carbon output by 50%.”
As a society, we need to reduce our carbon output to effectively zero. In the longer term we need to find ways to sequester the CO2 that we have already emitted. CO2 is accumulative in the environment. 50% merely gives us twice the time to cause a catastrophic runaway greenhouse event. We either stop, or we don’t. There is no middle ground. Electric power generation produces massive amounts of carbon every step of the way. Mining raw materials, refining those materials, manufacturing them, transporting them, and maintaining the systems and infrastructure built from them, whether global, national, or local, all require further CO2 emissions.
Industrialism is not the solution, it is the problem. We survived on this planet for many tens of thousands of years without it, we will not survive as a species for another hundred years, with it. It doesn’t get any simpler.
GregT on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 10:36 am
“Think teen agers vs your grand father………………….
cell phones vs land lines…….”
Think your grandfather VS every generation before him……….
Phones VS no phones………..
Telephones are not necessary for our survival, they are contributing to our collective extinction.
We don’t need phones. We come equipped with vocal chords.
GregT on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 11:09 am
“Climate Change is real…. it will impact all of us……”
Climate change is already impacting all of us, most are simply not willing to open their eyes. They believe that we can continue on with some semblance of BAU. We cannot.
“we need to move to clean energy production with wind and solar power and clean energy consumption with electric vehicles………”
There is no such thing as “clean energy production”. At least not man made “clean energy production”. While electric vehicles might be clean-ER, they are not clean. Not remotely close.
“Fossil fuels are the cause of Climate Change….. we need to deal with the cause….”
Climate change is our new reality. Adaptation is our only option. Continuing down the path of industrial consumerism will lead to a dead end for our species.
“VW should have focused on electric vehicles instead of TDI diesels…….. NO EMISSIONS………..”
Electric vehicles are NOT emissions free. Enough of the bullshit already Kenz.
Boat on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 11:29 am
GregT,
Why do you waste your time. Humans will never give up their right to have children and then provide for them. They are just like you. The earth is doomed in the long term. We will however continue with BAU until we can’t.
I am with Kenz in the pursuit of stretchin out collapse to the last second. I will always cheer every innovation and efficiency gained. I will always for change.
dave thompson on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 11:45 am
“I will always cheer every innovation and efficiency gained.” look up “jevons parodox” never mind here look. http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEVigEvt1WkmwAJ3knnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByOHZyb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg–/RV=2/RE=1457401477/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fJevons_paradox/RK=0/RS=osH1akXx4Js5iYcwYPIuvNtjnXM-
Practicalmaina on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 12:00 pm
GREGT those are some weak arguments, phones are unnecessary because we have vocal chords, isn’t that the whole damn point of a phone?
“Thete is no middle ground” so are you going without outside food and offsetting g your Internet usage power? Or are you just wasting good 02 preaching everythi ng is hopeless from your comfortable house?
Practicalmaina on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 12:04 pm
Anyone see the article about the CFO of the nuclear company looking to build the world’s biggest fission plant just quit out of concern of financial health of the company? Coal and nuke, companies closing and projects being canceled. You would think now is the time to build nuclear, cheaper raw materials and it wouldn’t be finished until the glut was. I think renewables and efficiency are going to be very disruptive in the near future.
Practicalmaina on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 12:07 pm
EDF is the company, I thought they were supposed to be cleaning up because of Germany mothballing plants.
Practicalmaina on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 12:10 pm
Two cats there is an add for your induction charger for a chevy volt on this website.
I’d ask for a cut 🙂
Boat on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 1:11 pm
dave thompson on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 11:45 am
“I will always cheer every innovation and efficiency gained.” look up “jevons parodox” never mind here look”.
I don’t believe that crap. If immigration were eliminated populations would drop in developed countries. Energy per capita
has been dropping for 20 years in the US for example. Yet another old wives myth.
twocats on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 1:19 pm
@Practical – LOL I wish. I knew induction chargers had been implemented for buses (because they have set routes, so you know to just put the charges at each stop).
And on the patent issue, I met a patent attorney once (well, more precisely an extremely attractive German friend of mine was his au pair). It takes a couple hundred thousand to defend a worthwhile patent. I could tell you stories, I mean, you wouldn’t believe it.
twocats on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 1:22 pm
here’s an example:
http://www.wired.com/2012/12/induction-charging-bus/
I just didn’t know if they had done anything like that for cars in a major way.
dave thompson on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 1:26 pm
Then read this one boat, http://www.endofmore.com/?p=1464
Davy on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 1:51 pm
Informative link DT
Boat on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 2:27 pm
Then read this one boat, http://www.endofmore.com/?p=1464
“Industrial civilization will not be saved by more industrial civilization”.
Unless you can convince the world to stop having children the question of how long till the crash is just timing.
Better efficiency is simply more work with less pollution. Nat gas is a killer but better than coal. Train fuel went from coal to diesel and now going to electric and nat gas. Without all these types of innovation the crash would maybe have already happened.
Why blame innovation instead of mans need for sex.
Boat on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 2:33 pm
hmmm,
Some format prblems.
Without all these types of polluting saving advancess the crash may have already happened.
GregT on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 3:07 pm
The crash is going to happen Boat. The longer we ‘stretch this out’, the bigger the crash will be. Up to, and including, the extinction of our species.
Many in the world’s scientific communities believe that it is already too late to save humanity, and they are in all likelihood correct, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try.
“Better efficiency is simply more work with less pollution.”
You obviously don’t understand Jevon’s paradox, just like you don’t appear capable of understanding pretty much anything else.
Not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Boat on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 4:17 pm
Greg,
I think lowering the population is smarter than destroying the society that makes it work. Doing nothin is worse. In sense of fairness maybe a lottery to have the right to have a child. You like that idea? Or is your solution to keep supporting the idea of population and kill any effort towards sustainability. You think humanity would be better off if billions died off quicker so more could start off in better shape later. Ok Hitler you are the sharpest tool in the shed.
GregT on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 5:53 pm
Boat,
“I think lowering the population is smarter than destroying the society that makes it work.”
You’re contradicting yourself again Boat.
“Doing nothin is worse.”
The one thing worse then doing “nothin”, is doing more of the same that caused all of the problems to begin with. Nature will run her course eventually, and there isn’t a damn thing that anybody can do to stop her.
There are some of us that are making efforts towards sustainability. That would not be you. You are advocating the continuation of MIS. Modern industrial society is not sustainable, whether you choose to like it or not. The longer that we manage to keep modern industrialism going, the worse the consequences will be, for every single last one of us, all future generations, and all life as we know it on the planet Earth.
There are no solutions to our dilemma other than to stop doing what we are. If we do not, we are done. The End.
Boat on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 6:50 pm
Greg
“The one thing worse then doing “nothin”, is doing more of the same that caused all of the problems to begin with”.
Making the business of energy cheaper and cleaner is BAU.
makati1 on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 6:56 pm
Forget it folks, the techies have their brains hard wired to ignore reality and facts. They probably have a career and paycheck on the line, not to mention a ‘George Jetson’ future dream that they cannot let go of.
Even electric cars cannot run on gravel/mud roads for long and that is all we would have if they didn’t maintain them with petroleum fueled equipment and materials. Even concrete requires maintenance and that comes from huge amounts of energy input. All from petroleum, coal and Nat gas.
Reality is a bitch.
GregT on Mon, 7th Mar 2016 7:49 pm
“Making the business of energy cheaper and cleaner is BAU.”
Jevon’s paradox is not a theory Boat. It is an observation. Making energy cheaper and cleaner, does not decrease consumption. It increases it.
BAU is a dead end for humanity, and it is looking more and more likely for that dead end to occur within your natural lifespan Boat.