Smart Fortwo Roadster is ‘greenest car’
• New reports says Fortwo is greenest car
• Based on CO2 and nitrogen oxide emissions
• Toyota Prius came 12th in survey
In the study by Cardiff University and automotive consultants Thames Clifford, researchers gave a car’s carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions 50% weighting in assessing its overall environmental score.
For the other 50%, the researchers ranked cars on their construction, energy used and end of life disposal costs.
By using this scoring system, the green car table was dominated by superminis, topped by the Smart, which is now no longer in production, and followed by other city cars such as Citroen’s C1 and the Fiat Panda.
Toyota’s petrol-electric hybrid Prius, a car often associated with environmental friendliness, came 12th in the study.
The report’s authors warned the Prius could move further down the green pecking order as greener versions of conventional petrol and diesel powered cars come on sale.
‘We’re not saying that any car that’s the same size as the Prius is better, but the gap is closing very rapidly, and conventional technologies will pass the Prius,’ Clifford Thames’ Richard Barber told the Financial Times.
Toyota has said its expects its next Prius to have carbon dioxide emissions of between 90 and 99g/km, but it won’t be on sale until 2009.
Currently, Volkswagen’s Polo Bluemotion is the car with the lowest carbon dioxide emissions, but VW plans a Golf Bluemotion – similar in size to the Prius – by the end of the year.
Citroen, Ford, Hyundai and Volvo are also planning greener versions of their small family cars in the near future.
Greenest cars
1 Smart Roadster
2 Smart Fortwo cabriolet
3 Citroen C1 1.0i
4 Peugeot 107 1.0
5 Citroen C1 1.4 HDi
6 Fiat Panda 1.2
7 Ford Ka 1.3
8 Toyota Yaris 1.0
9 Fiat Panda 100hp
10 Peugeot 206 1.4
11 Mini Cooper D
12 Toyota Prius 1.5
Source: Cardiff University/Clifford Thames
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