Eco-Friendly Car of the Year Nominees
Best Car for Green Drivers
2013 Toyota Prius
In this age of plug-in cars and the proliferation (albeit slow) of clean diesels, the Toyota Prius might seem out of place in the contest for Eco-Friendly Car of the Year. But it's against this new backdrop that the Prius' universality truly stands out. Buy it at any Toyota dealership, park it anywhere, fuel it at any filling station and drive it hundreds of miles between stops. Can the same be said of other alternative-fuel vehicles? Still the most efficient car in the U.S. market, the Prius' efficiency and universality remain a potent combination more than a decade into the hybrid era it helped launch.
Best Deal for Green Drivers
2013 Honda Fit
We always pay tribute to conventional gas-powered cars among our eco-friendly nominees, and this year one of them represents the best deal: the Honda Fit. With its simple 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine and a choice of manual or automatic transmission, this subcompact hatchback gets EPA-estimated mileage of 27/33 or 28/35 mpg, respectively. After it took first place in a Cars.com Shootout test of seven $16,000 subcompacts, we described the Fit as a triumph of cargo volume, versatility and execution. That's why it belongs in this list. If you're going for subcompact efficiency, the Fit does it without all the subcompact drawbacks.