The Toyota Prius c is the smallest hybrid electric vehicle Toyota makes, out of over five million Toyota hybrids sold globally.
Recently, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy [ACEEE] rated the Toyota Prius c Greenest Vehicle. This is an impressive accolade, but addresses only the vehicle’s greenness. Sure, the ACEEE study included things like fuel economy and green manufacturing processes, but could it have gone a little further?
According to a recent study, the first of its kind, Toyota Prius c is still the best compact car that you can buy. The study completed by Automotive Science Group [ASG], Life-Cycle Assessment Across Model Year 2013, compared over 1,400 models across nine vehicle categories, including coupe, compact, convertible, mid-size, full-size, crossover, mid-size SUV, full-size SUV, and minivan. Why didn’t they bother with pickups?
How do you measure performance in today’s highly competitive automobile market? Performance used to be measured in horsepower and zero-to-sixty sprint times, but times have changed. Today, we talk more about fuel economy and environmental impact. According to ASG, it’s a blend of social, environmental, and economic factors that differentiate vehicles from one another, which is why you’ll more readily find the Toyota Prius c on the top of the compact car list instead of the Toyota AE86.
Unsurprisingly, fuel economy is heavily weighted, so hybrid electric vehicles, such as the Honda CR-Z, Toyota Prius c, Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid, and the Toyota Prius [the entire lineup] and Avalon Hybrid, rank in top of the charts. On the other hand, only one electric vehicle, the Nissan Leaf, made it to #3 in the mid-size segment. Manufacturers should be considering their impact across all fronts. There’s clearly plenty of room for improvement, not only in electric vehicles, but for all vehicles.
