The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) named the Mercedes-Benz Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Convertible/Coupe the "Greenest" vehicle in its 18th annual comprehensive environmental rating list for vehicles this week.
The publication of the 2015 ratings was released to coincide with the unveiling of ACEEE's brand new greenercars.org website, which now offers subscription-free access to all vehicle scores from model year 2000 and later, according to a company release.
Though the "Greenest" vehicle list for 2015 is still dominated by battery-electric vehicles and hybrids, the ratings do show that there are still a number of conventional petroleum-fueled models for those looking to be a little more environmentally friendly.
"The Smart Fortwo EV is the lightest electric vehicle on the market," said Shruti Vaidyanathan, the lead analyst for Greenercars.org to AutoWorldNews. "So not only does it have great fuel efficiency but because we use vehicle weight and battery weight as the primary determinants of manufacturing, assembly, and disposal emissions, it surpasses all other vehicles."
The Smart ForTwo Electric Drive topped the "Greenest" List for the second consecutive year after posting the highest Green Score ever (61.) The top five was rounded out by the Chevrolet Spark EV (59), Fiat 500E (59), Toyota Prius C (57) and the Nissan Leaf (57).
At No. 10, the Mitsubishi Mirage was the only conventional vehicle to earn a spot on the "Greenest" list this year, though the conventional Smart ForTwo was not listed since its all-electric counterpart already claimed a spot on the list.
Six out of 12 places in this year's Greenest List were claimed by plug-in electric vehicles.
"Green vehicles are by and large incredibly efficient and an efficient vehicle will save you money regardless of gas prices, which have historically been quite volatile," Vaidyanathan said.
ACEEE also ranked the "Greener Choices" and "Meanest" vehicles, which were led by the Toyota Prius C, which earned a 57 and the Ram 2500 (Class 2b) which earned a 17.
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