Um ... I know they only put about a thousand out so far ... and who knows if they'll ever be SOLD ... in stead of leased (like the EV1) ... but didn't the Auto Show folks forget somebody?

that's WAY greener?

MINIUSA.com

They are factory built ... so what'd I miss. And there's the Tesla, too ... aka "chopped liver" to the list maker, apparently.

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they probably aren't up for the award b/c of this requirement:

"The award's aim is to recognize vehicles available in dealer showrooms"

There are no dealers near me with the tesla for example.

The winner should be the one responsible for the most "greening". Given than the Prius should just about out-sell all of those cars combined, I think it's obvious which car should win.

It's not green, it's a car. Less black, maybe - a better choice for many, and worthy of accolades - but not green.

• 2008 - VW Jetta TDI
• 2007 - Chevy Tahoe two-mode
• 2006 - Toyota Camry Hybrid

Given their past performance, I don't really care because their judgement is so obviously not worthy.

Bob Wilson

My point too. but enter the very worthy EV's (mini IS sold nation wide btw) into the mix ... especially if one is powering it off their solar PV, and you have a half way decent argument that the transportation IS somewhat green.

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Its even worse because the VW Jetta is not supposed to burn Bio-Diesel above B5.... they and made so few of the Chevy 2mode's!

The Prius and the Milan would both be winners to me, with the Prius ahead as it is the highest mpg of that group.

I think they like to award it to cars that push the boundaries of what we consider a hybrid (aka prius) for your everyday person which is why the prius doesnt win every year.

The Prius has NEVER won this award. The past winners listed are all of the winners.

I wonder why the Milan, and not the Fusion, since the Fusion was the model that Ford really pushed out, and still does. Is it because it is the Mercury brand and not the Ford brand? I can understand why the Prius doesn't take top dog, it's a small car and expected to get the best economy. When you take a large heavy car and do it, then that's impressive, Hence past winners(Except TDI). A 3720# car getting 41 MPG is impressive. That's nearly 1000# more than the Prius. I dont understand the Tahoe though, is it because it was a large SUV that had an electric motor?

Don't forget to cast your vote for your favorite here:

Which of these cars deserves to be called the 2010 Green Car of the Year? | The Car Tech blog - CNET Reviews

Best,
Erica G, Prius Product Marketing, Toyota USA

Well, the Audi A3 TDI won the award this time per LA 2009: Audi A3 TDI named 2010 Green Car of the Year in diesel repeat — Autoblog Green.

Obviously, the judges didn't pick it on the basis of being green, which it's not. Try going to Green Vehicle Guide | US EPA and then check both checkboxes on the right side, select 2010 and California, then sort by air pollution score or greenhouse gas score and see how many were equal to or better than it. Then lookup the scores for it vs. the 2010 Prius.

3/4 of the vehicles are equal or better on air pollution score and >1/3 are equal or better in GHG.

CA 2010 Prius gets 9.5/10 for air pollution score and 10/10 for GHG. CA A3 TDI gets 7/10 and 8/10 respectively. Prius is rated to emit 2.97 tons of GHG/year vs. 4.96 tons for the A3 TDI (per the above site).

I guess we should label all the vehicles that have at least a 7 for air pollution score and 8 for GHG scores as "green". That would make for plenty of "green" gasoline vehicles.

It's clear the judges didn't pick it on its greenness. I'm not sure why it even got nominated. It's just more diesel greenwashing.

Prius definetely deserves this kind of recognitions but maybe next year with PHEV!

How exactly does a diesel beat the 51mpg Prius? (scratches head) I don't get it.

Also, besides the above, the greenhouse gas and air pollution scores, if you go by EPA numbers and their annual driving amounts at Side-by-Side Comparison, you'll find that the A3 TDI consumes 11.6 barrels of oil per year vs. the Prius' 6.9 barrels.

Actually, you got me thinking about "Autoblog Green" from this quote in their article:

So I used their search function to look for "Prius" and in date order:
YYYY/MM|Count
2009/12|2
2009/11|13
2008/02|1
2007/12|1Notice anything unusual? Perhaps the complete absence of any Prius content until November. This goes a long way to explaining why I don't really follow AutoblogGreen ... they remain completely clueless.

As for the LA Autoshow:

• 14,473 - TMS November 2009 hybrid vehicle sales
• 9,617 - Prius sales
• 3,667 - Volkswagen’s Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Golf and Touareg TDI diesels sold

So how many TDI diesels did the "LA Autoshow" buy? How about "AutoblogGreen?"

Bob Wilson

"Of the year" awards are generally based on many factors such as significance, fun to drive, value, and so on. So the greenest vehicle does not necessarily win the green car of the year award.

FWIW, I thought there were better choices than the A3 TDI and was surprised that it won. Milan hybrid, Prius, and Golf TDI all seemed like better choices to me. That's not based on green credentials alone, but rather I'm trying to evaluate the car as a whole, what it means for the market, and how it is significant.

Since the Fusion won 1 award already, this is a chance to make it look like 2 different American cars won Car of the Year.