The Honda Accord Hybrid today won the 2014 Canadian Green Car Award.
A panel of top Canadian automotive journalists selected the Accord Hybrid from among five other category winners as the vehicle that best combines environmental benefits and mass-market appeal.
David Miller, President and CEO of WWF-Canada, presented the second annual Award trophy to Dave Gardner, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing with Honda Canada Inc., this morning at the Green Living Show, in Toronto's Direct Energy Centre.
"Thank you to all the voting judges of the Canadian Green Car Award. It is an honour to have our Accord Hybrid recognized by so many of Canada's most respected journalists," said Dave Gardner. "Joining the award-winning Accord family and sharing the fun-to-drive performance, sophisticated styling and premium comfort features of the Accord sedan, the Accord Hybrid offers a no-compromise vehicle for the extreme fuel saver."
"One important way we can build an environmentally sustainable society is by making transportation choices that have a lower impact on the planet, and that includes greener cars," David Miller said. "The Accord Hybrid helps achieve that goal with its impressive efficiency, which is key to lowering greenhouse gases and improving local air quality.
"I am pleased to be part of the Canadian Green Car award as it is a meaningful way to show people what is really possible."
The Accord had won the Hybrid category, in a tie with Volkswagen's Jetta Turbo Hybrid, in an earlier selection round, after extensive testing and assessments by the 19 judges.
The category winners include:
Battery-Electric/Zero Emission
Nissan LEAF
Plug-in Hybrid
Ford C-MAX Energi
Full Hybrid
(Tie) Honda Accord Hybrid
Volkswagen Jetta Turbo Hybrid
Efficient Gasoline or Diesel
Mazda3 2.0-litre
Internal Combustion - Efficient Three-Row Family Vehicle
Mazda5
The Accord Hybrid and other category winners will be on display for the duration of the three-day Green Living Show, open until 7 p.m. today and Saturday and to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The Canadian Green Car Award recognizes vehicles, widely available in Canada, that offer both impressive environmental attributes with strong mass-market appeal, since any product can have a significant impact only if it sells in large numbers.
As a result, the assessments combined "objective" criteria, such as fuel economy, emissions and price, with the judges' evaluations of performance, driving experience, value, features and "green" qualities. Those environmental benefits included not only fuel efficiency and emissions but also the use of sustainable or recyclable materials and measures taken by manufacturers to green their operations.
"Congratulations to Honda, the five other category winners, and to all the manufacturers whose vehicles were nominated for the Canadian Green Car Award," said Laurie Simmonds, CEO of Green Living Enterprises. "The Green Living Show provides consumers with an opportunity to view all the category winners and to test drive some of the most innovative automotive technology on the market today."
The competition began with judges submitting five nominees for each category. They could choose any vehicle as long as it met basic "green" criteria based on technology type and fuel economy. The top picks from those lists became the 16 entries — four in the Battery-Electric category; three in each of the others. This open process, in which eligibility doesn't depend on whether a manufacturer is willing to pay a substantial entry fee, is in line with other global green car awards and makes the program a more meaningful gauge for consumers.
Other nominees includes the Tesla Model S, Ford Focus EV, Kia Soul EV, Cadillac ELR, Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid, Infiniti Q50 Hybrid, Chevrolet Cruze Diesel, Volkswagen Jetta TDI, Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid and Kia Rondo.
Ford's Fusion Hybrid won last year's inaugural Canadian Green Car Award.
Automotive journalists Eric Novak, Michael Bettencourt and Peter Gorrie developed the Award program and are its steering committee.
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