Clean diesel cars were included in the five finalist positions for 2015 Green Car of the Year award.
The winners will be announced on November 20th at the LA Auto Show.
Audi A3 TDI and the Volkswagen Golf’s new 2.0 liter TDI clean diesel, gasoline and electric engines are among the cars named as finalists. The other finalists include BMW i3, Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel and Honda Fit.
Since the “Green Car of the Year” award was created 10 years ago, clean diesels entered into 10 finalists list with two winners, the Volkswagen Jetta TDI clean diesel in 2009 and the Audi A3 TDI clean diesel in 2010.
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While clean diesel cars account for around one percent of the entire U.S. car market. So far, they have received 20 percent of the finalist nominations. This is a reflection of the impressive fuel efficiency, advanced diesel engine and emission technology, and cleaner diesel fuel, common to all clean diesel cars and pickup trucks, said, Allen Schaeffer, executive director, Diesel Technology Forum.
Today, consumers have more shades of green to choose from than ever before, and the selection panel is really going to have their work cut out for them. It’s a great success story that there are so many choices and where clean diesel can compete in such a competitive field of advanced technology vehicles, added Schaeffer.
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Recently, the 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel pickup truck with the highest estimated EPA highway fuel economy of all light-duty pickups at 28 mpg was selected Motor Trend’s “2014 Truck of the Year®”.
Finalists are selected for their outstanding achievements in in environmental performance. Availability to the mass market ensures their potential to make a difference in environmental impact. Above all, finalists must be available for sale by January 1st of the award year, according to the Green Car Journal.
Under typical conditions, the light-duty diesel vehicles achieve a 20-40 percent improvement in fuel economy and 10-20 percent reduction in emissions when compared to a traditional vehicle.
Clean diesel cars make up about one percent of the U.S. car market and diesel pickup trucks consist of three percent of the total market, which is expected to increase to 7-to-10 percent of the total market by 2020.
Since 2005, the diesel vehicles have reduced emissions by 7.6M tons of carbon and saved 29 million barrels of crude oil, corresponding to reducing consumption of gasoline by 1.2 billion gallons.
The growth in the diesel market is expected to reduce a further 7.7 million tons.
Sabeena Wahid