The Honda Accord won Green Car Journal's "Green Car of the Year" honor. The magazine also honors the Green Car Technology of the Year for innovations that help vehicles save energy.
Buyers of new vehicles often consider the awards those cars and trucks have racked up, especially those wanting an environmentally friendly ride. However, it behooves them to look beyond just the simple honors, like Green Car of the Year.
The 2014 Green Car Technology Award will be handed out in late January and should play a role in any research new vehicle buyers are doing as part of their due diligence.
The award, which is given by the Green Car Journal, lauds automakers that come up with the best ideas that lead to vehicles that save energy.
In fact, while the magazine does hand out a “Green Car of the Year” honor – it gave this year’s to the Honda Accord at the Los Angeles Auto Show – it’s not always for a hybrid or some form of electric vehicle. It has a long history of honoring other technologies, especially diesels.
“Advanced technology plays an increasingly important role in the development of cars and trucks capable of achieving significantly greater levels of efficiency and improved environmental impact,” say Ron Cogan, publisher of Green Car Journal.
“While new and advanced vehicle models get the limelight, it’s these underlying technologies that make their amazing achievements possible.”
(Honda Accord named Green Car of the Year. For more, Click Here.)
Saving energy may be the key point in all of this. Many folks only think of hybrids or battery electrics when they want a “green” vehicle, but energy-saving vehicles and technologies come in many forms.
(Click Here to see what Americans think of electric vehicles.)
The nominees for this year’s technology award include:
- The three-motor, all-wheel-drive hybrid in the Acura Sport Hybrid SH-AWD.
- The turbocharged direct-injection engine in the Audi 3-liter TDI diesel engine.
- The carbon-fiber body of the BMW i3 electric car.
- The regenerative braking and deceleration charging system on the new Cadillac ELR extended-range electric car.
- The smallest turbocharged engine, the Ford 1-liter EcoBoost in the 2014 Fiesta.
- The plug-in charging system in the Honda Accord, capable of 115 MPGe.
- The fuel cell system in the new Hyundai Fuel Cell, a converted Tucson crossover.
- The capacitor system that stores energies in Mazdas, called the i-ELOOP Brake Energy Regeneration System.
- The plug-in hybrid system in the Porsche.
- The new diesel engine in the Ram pickup, the first diesel in years in a small pickup.
The winner will be honored during the Washington D.C. Auto Show on Jan. 22.