The non-profit organization American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) is dedicated to crafting influential policies aimed at diminishing energy wastage and addressing climate change. The council publishes an assessment every year. It describes the real environmental impact of "all new models in the U.S. light-duty vehicle market."

Greenest Car

The winner of most environmentally friendly car is Toyota Prius Prime SE. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy named it as world's greenest car. It performed better than any available electric vehicle (EV).

Market Watch's report, as shared by Morning Star, highlights the evaluation conducted by ACEEE, which assigns each car a "green score" based on factors such as emissions from fuel combustion, upstream emissions from electricity usage, and emissions from the mining and processing of minerals for batteries and vehicle manufacturing. The council's website provides detailed scores categorized by vehicle class for readers to access.

The report shared Toyota Prius Prime SE owning the top spot for the greenest car. The next four on the list of the greenest car are Lexus RZ 300e.Mini Cooper SE, Nissan Leaf ,and Toyota bZ4x. According to Axios, the GreenerCars assessment evaluated 1,200 cars available in 2024, taking into account their emissions and pollutants during operation and throughout the manufacturing and assembly processes.

Seven completely electric vehicles (EVs) made up the top 12 environmentally friendly cars. Four of which were ranked in the top five. All five of the hybrid cars in the group were less expensive than the EVs. The Mercedes-Benz Maybach S680, a fully gas-powered vehicle, was deemed the least environmentally friendly, with a recommended sticker price of around $234,000 and an estimated annual fuel cost exceeding $3,000.

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2024 Toyota Prius Prime

The greenest car is the Toyota Prius Prime. Car & Driver claims that the revised Prius has experienced a dramatic metamorphosis, going from one of the most unusual-looking cars to a truly striking model. Notable upgrades to the Prius Prime plug-in hybrid's (PHEV) drivetrain have also been made.

The 2024 Prius Prime has improved acceleration with a gas four-cylinder engine and two electric motors working together to produce 220 horsepower-a significant boost of 99 horses over the previous model. Furthermore, it now boasts an additional 19 miles of electric-only driving range from its battery.

This latest iteration demonstrates Toyota's shift in focus, elevating the Prius into a stylish, performance-oriented plug-in hybrid, earning it a spot on both the 10Best Cars list and the 2024 Editors' Choice list alongside the standard model.

The Prius Prime has expanded its lineup to include the SE, XSE, and XSE Premium grades. The entire Prius Prime lineup is equipped with a 2.0-liter gas engine generating 160 horsepower, coupled with two electric motors. One motor propels the drive wheels, while the other manages a planetary gearset to distribute the gas engine's power, creating a transmission mechanism akin to a belt-driven continuously variable automatic transmission.

Car and Driver reports that Toyota is thinking about making the Prius Prime available with all-wheel drive as an optional upgrade, but for now, the car is only intended to be front-wheel drive. If this option were made accessible, an additional electric motor would be installed in order to operate the car's rear axle only.

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