Though it won't go on sale until December, Ford's Focus Electric is a finalist in the Green Car of the Year awards announced next month.
The first 2012 Ford Focus Electric won’t even reach buyers in California until the very end of the year but it apparently has had a significant impact on the judges for the Green Car of the Year, landing among the five finalists for the prestigious award.
The jury has chosen a mix of products that reveals the breadth of alternative powertrain market, with the finalists including a conventional hybrid, two pure battery-electric vehicles, a clean diesel and a natural gas-powered offering.
Along with the Focus Electric, the Green Car finalists include the 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas, the 2012 Mitsubishi i, the 2012 Toyota Prius v and the 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI.
“This year’s Green Car of the Year finalists underscore that there is no single solution to our transportation challenges,” said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and GreenCar.com “Here we have five exceptional answers to the question of how we’re going to increase efficiencies, reduce tailpipe and CO2 emissions, and decrease petroleum use.”
Toyota expands its new sub-brand with the addition of the 2012 Prius v.
Little more than an afterthought when it was first announced, the Green Car of the Year award has become a sought-after honor in recent times as the automotive industry has begun shifting to more environmentally friendly powertrain technology. But the awards have often run counter to conventional wisdom, notably honoring diesels at a time when that technology was all but written off by many industry experts.
The 2012 finalists include two products that won’t even be available to consumers when the trophies are handed out at next month’s Los Angeles Auto Show. The Ford Focus Electric will begin limited distribution in parts of California in December, with production and sales only ramping up in mid-2012. Mitsubishi has similar plans for the little i battery car.
Diesels now account for nearly a third of the demand for some VW models, like the 2012 Passat TDI.
The Toyota Prius v, meanwhile, introduces a new brand-within-a-brand for Toyota which is hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the original Prius by sharing that badge with a mix of smaller and larger models as well as a plug-in hybrid due to market by year-end.
The 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas is currently the only factory-built CNG product on the U.S. market – though General Motors recently announced plans to launch its own natural gas model. Some experts believe that CNG has a significant potential in the U.S. market considering the country’s vast reserves of the gas.
Mitsubishi hopes buyers will be drawn to the low price and high efficiency of its new "i" battery car.
The 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI, meanwhile, is the latest diesel offering for a brand that refused to write off the technology. Diesels now account for nearly a third the volume for some models sold by VW and its sibling Audi brand.
The jurors for the Green Car of the Year award include Sierra Club Chairman Carl Pope; Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of Ocean Futures Society; Matt Petersen, president of Global Green USA, as well as noted auto collector and Tonight Show host Jay Leno; and automotive icon Carroll Shelby.