The Vauxhall Ampera has not even hit the showrooms yet but it has already begun to pick up industry honours. At last night's (September 7) What Car? Green Car of the Year awards the Ampera took the honours in the 'Alternative Fuel' category in addition to being named the overall Green Car of the Year 2011.
Speaking of the awards What Car? Editor-in-chief, Chas Hallett said: "The Vauxhall Ampera offers all the benefits of owning an electric vehicle with virtually none of the drawbacks. It gives motorists the ability to dramatically reduce their emissions without changing their lifestyle, which is exactly what green cars need to do."
For the second year running the VW Golf BlueMotion claimed the small family car title while the Kia Picanto took the honours ahead of rivals like the Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi 95 ECOnetic in the supermini category. What Car? commented that the Picanto's sub 100g/km emission level means no London Congestion Charge and no road tax.
Ford's Mondeo beat off stiff competition to take the title of the greenest family car with the BMW 318d being named the best green executive and Renault's Grand Scenic took the honours in the MPV category.
With CO
2 emissions of only 99g/km the diesel hybrid powered Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4 was a shoe in for the SUV award with Chas Hallett commenting "The world's first production diesel hybrid is the best hybrid the What Car? team has driven."
Proving that going green is not boring the fun car award went to the MINI Cooper D.
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What Car? website for the full story.
Paul Healy - 8 Sep 2011