The Ford Fusion Energi and the Toyota Highlander Hybrid were named winners of the Green Fleet Car and Truck of the Year awards at the 2014 LA Auto Show.
These awards recognize the most environmentally-friendly cars and trucks for fleet use and emphasize the auto industry’s expanding efforts to offer new vehicles with higher fuel efficiencies and a smaller environmental impact.
The Green Fleet Car of the Year winner, the Ford Fusion Energi Plug-In Hybrid, has a state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery and an electric motor with a gasoline engine for added efficiency. The car also features a next-generation SmartGauge with EcoGuide, providing real-time information to help users drive more efficiently. The Ford Fusion Energi is also equipped with regenerative breaking, a standard feature that captures 90 percent of the kinetic energy and uses it to recharge the lithium-ion battery. The two runner-ups for Green Fleet Car of the Year were the Nissan LEAF and the Honda Civic Natural Gas.
The Green Fleet Truck of the Year winner, the all-new Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV, can accommodate up to seven passengers comfortably while providing a seamless gas-to-electric driving experience. In addition to being a market leader in fuel economy, it includes features such as electronic on-demand 4-Wheel Drive, Hybrid Synergy Drive and 280-hybrid system net horsepower. The runner-ups for Green Fleet Truck of the Year were the Ram 1500 Eco Diesel and Ford Transit T150 Wagon FFV.
All fleet model nominees for the Green Fleet Car and Truck of the Year awards were self-nominated by each OEM. These are the models recommended to corporate fleet customers to help them meet corporate sustainability goals in fleet applications.
The finalists for the Green Fleet Car and Truck of the Year were chosen through online voting by readers of Green Fleet, Automotive Fleet, Work Truck and Business Fleet magazines. Winners were selected based on a strategic evaluation of performance and contributions to the environment, as well as a numerical score that is calculated based on fuel economy, petroleum displacement, EPA air pollution score, EPA greenhouse gas emissions, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Association ratings and passenger capacity for cars and payload capacity for trucks. To develop the award criteria and identify the finalists, Bobit Business Media collaborated with, and received technical assistance from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory, which support the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Clean Cities program.
