New research: The cleanest car in the world is not an electric car

Electric driving for a better climate, right? No, according to extensive American research, an electric vehicle does not appear to be the cleanest option. If you really want the well-being of Mother Nature, you don’t drive an electric car, but rather this plug hybrid from Toyota.

More than 1,200 cars were examined as part of the investigation. Not only was the CO2 emissions examined when driving – on paper, electric cars emit 0 grams of CO2 per kilometer – but also the emissions of fine dust, CO2 and nitrogen during electricity or fuel production. In addition, the production and dismantling process of the cars was taken into account.

No electric car at the top of the top 12 cleanest cars

According to researcher ACEEE, shortly before American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, had examined the entire life cycle of all candidates; the vehicles were rated from 0 to 100. The higher the better. Below you can see a list of the twelve cleanest models currently available.

So it’s not an electric vehicle, but the new Toyota Prius, which tops the list as a plug-in hybrid. However, that doesn’t change the fact that many electric cars also prove to be an environmentally friendly choice. The rest of the top 5 are equipped with a fully electric drive.

An electric vehicle is one of the 12 most polluting cars

Where there are winners, there are also losers. The researchers also compiled a top 12 of the worst-performing cars. What is striking is that there is actually an electric car underneath.

This is the gigantic GMC Hummer EV that Autovisie has previously tested. The electric car weighs more than 4,700 kilograms and people with only a B driving license are not even allowed to drive it. Although an example is offered as a used car in the Netherlands, this inefficient Hummer (like many other models on this list) is not officially available in the Netherlands.