ADAC and RACC rank the ecofriendliness of current car offerings in Europe

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The Spanish RACC and German ADAC car clubs have just released their yearly ECO-TEST. It is a very complete report that includes aspects such as of the perception of consumers’ attitudes towards ecology, a ranking of the greenest and the least green cars available in European markets (although not all models are available in all countries) and how carmakers are reaching their emissions targets. The ECO-TEST results also reflect the continuing tendency of Europeans driving their cars more, copying the suburban American model.

The consumers’ survey was made in the Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) in 2006. The madrileños are ready to buy greener cars, even if they have less power (so say 87 percent) or they have to refill more often (78 percent). However, only 4 out of 10 would accept buying alternative energy cars when if they were more expensive than standard ones. The report also ranks mileage as the second key factor for deciding the purchase of a new car, behind safety. Third place is for speed and on the fourth and fifth place they mentioned gas emissions and recyclable materials, respectively.

And since we all love lists, there are three top five (one’s a top eight) after the jump.

[Source: RACC (Spanish)]

The top 5 eco-friendly cars available in Europe (None of the 93 cars got a 5-ecostar rating):

  1. Toyota Prius Executive
  2. Volvo V70 2.4 bi-fuel Momentum, using Compressed Natural Gas
  3. Honda Civic 3i-DSi hybrid
  4. Skoda Octavia Combi RS TDI (RPF) – The first diesel in the ranking because of an anti-particulate filter.
  5. Skoda Octavia 1.6 FSI Ambiente

The worst five were:

  1. Hyundai Terracan 2.9 CRDi GLS Automatik
  2. VW Fox 1.4 TDI
  3. Fiat Panda 1.3 JTD Multijet 16V Cross 4×4
  4. KIA Rio 1.5 CRDi EX Top
  5. VW Sharan 2.8 V6 Highline Tiptronic

The score was made taking in consideration the following parameters: The Euro emissions tier (currently passenger cars should adapt to Euro IV), the level of particles at the exhaust pipe, mileage and CO2 emissions per km.

Finally, the European carmakers ranked by their success in reducing their average CO2 tailpipe emissions from 1997 to 2005:

  1. Fiat: 169 to 139 g/km
  2. Citroën: 172 to 144 g/km
  3. Renault: 179 to 149 g/km
  4. Ford: 180 to 151 g/km
  5. Peugeot: 177 to 151 g/km
  6. Opel/Vauxhall: 180 to 156 g/km
  7. Toyota: 189 to 163 g/km
  8. Kia: 202 to 170 g/km

(Read more about a list similar to this last one here)

 

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