'Green Car Journal' announces 2009 Green Car of the Year
VW Jetta TDI gets on stage to accept its award.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)LOS ANGELES--The Green Car Journal gave its 2009 Green Car of the Year award to the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. This year's list of nominees included the BMW 335d, Ford Fusion Hybrid, Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid, and Smart ForTwo. The Jetta TDI uses a 2-liter, turbocharged, diesel, four-cylinder engine to achieve an EPA-rated 41mpg highway fuel economy and 30mpg city. Volkswagen's new clean diesel technology makes the car legal in all 50 states, meeting California's stringent Air Resources Board requirements, under which is qualifies as a SULEV, or Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle. The panel of judges included Jay Leno, Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke, and legendary auto tuner Carroll Shelby.
The Ford Fusion Hybrid gets left out in the cold.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)Green Car Journal opened itself up for criticism last year by naming the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid as its 2008 Green Car of the Year. Diesel proponents will applaud the choice of the Jetta TDI for 2009, but the two hybrids on the list, with AT-PZEV (Advanced Technology-Partial Zero Emission Vehicle) emissions ratings, might seem more deserving. The Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid probably didn't make it due to fuel economy hovering around 30mpg, but the Ford Fusion Hybrid has an estimated economy of 38mpg city and 35mpg highway, plus a very cool instrument cluster that coaches people to drive more economically. The judges were most likely swayed by the price, with the Jetta TDI coming in at below $22,000, while the Fusion Hybrid will most likely come in above $27,000.
I just wish smart would bring the mhd (micro hybrid drive) and their electric fortwo to the US.
please honda please! dont change too much! the back could look better, but the front and everything else is top-notch!
love the idea of a sporty hybrid, too.
Don't get me wrong. I'd rather the diesel won. It's a simpler design and it will have a longer service life because diesel engines last forever and there's no battery to worry about. But the Fusion wins this green contest comfortably because of the sensational city mileage. Also worth noting is how the Fusion comfortably beats the Toyota Camry Hybrid for fuel mileage.
We do have good quality diesel now. California has just set their emissions standards for diesels much higher than what is required in Europe.
While the article pegs the win on the price of the Jetta, it probably is more based on mileage (it gets much better than stated by the EPA, whereas hybrids do worse than stated), it doesn't lose as much mileage in cold weather and there are no hard-to-dispose of battery packs to take care of.
Combined with the price, a low emission diesel is still the greenest option.
Was green before green was cool.
And the people on welfare riding Propane Gas Buses were cooler before you.
I believe the U.S. gov't limits the number of diesel vehicles sold each year. How short sighted and stupid is that?
My Mitsu Eclipse gets 38 to 42 MPG and I drive like a mad man, I don't think I ever drive below 140kph and i only accelerate by flooring it. These are absolutly pathetic figures, Even my 10 year old Lumina gets better gas milage and still manages 160 HP.
These are possibly the most pathetic figures I have ever read.
The Germans should be absolutly ashamed for even creating something this pathetic.
I think I'll buy a Porsche, I'm told the 911 Turbo gets pretty good gas milage and actually in most US cities, the air it emits is almost cleaner than the air it breathes in!
Where I live, gas right is around 1.60 and deisel is around 2.60
Say you drove both cars 300 miles in city, then highway traffic.
Jetta: 10 gallons/city, 7.32 gallons/hwy. So 10x2.6=26$ and 7.32x2.6=19$.
So on a 300 mile trip with today's average gas prices the Jetta will run $26city and $19 hwy.
The Fuzion: 7.9 gallons city, 8.59 gallons hwy. 7.9x1.6=$12.64 and 8.59x1.6=$13.74
On a 300 mile trip today: Fuzion: $12.64/$13.74(city/hwy)
TDI: $26/$19.
Fuzion FTW. People praise diesels when fuel they run on is always at least a dollar more than regular unleaded.
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December 9, 2008 9:15 AM PST
- Ok... tell me again why the other two hybrids supposedly deserved the award more than the TDI?? I have an '09 VW Jetta TDI and I get OVER FIFTY MPG while cruising on the highway. The official MPG numbers were hogwash. This car definitely deserves the award!!!
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