Volvo S40 Wins What Car? Greenest Car Award

An ostensibly traditional-looking and conventionally powered Volvo design has beaten off newer and more hi-tech environmentally friendly car technologies to win the coveted What Car? Greenest Car of the Year Award 2009.  Volvo’s design, the S40 DRIVe, is a diesel-powered family saloon, whose exhaust releases about the same level of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions as the hybrid, eco-friendly Toyota Prius.

“The S40 is a great example of a car maker cleverly refining existing technologies to make a seriously green car”, the editor of What Car?, Steve Fowler, commented.

He added: “It’s not just about a low CO2 figure, though:  the S40 is great to drive, safe, has enough space for the family and, crucially, is cheap to run, too.”

Green Car Award Categories

The Volvo S40 DRIVe was one of 24 cars battling for top honours.  While it won overall, there were also ten other green car award categories, in which the following cars/manufacturers were recognised:

• Greenest Supermini Award – Won by the Fiat 500 Start&Stop, which emits 113g grams of CO2 per kilometre
• Greenest Small Family Car Award – Won by the Volvo S40 DRIVe, which emits 104 grams of CO2 per Km
• Greenest Family Car Award – Won by the Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D T2, which emits 135 grams of CO2/Km
• Greenest Executive Car Award – Won by the BMW 318d ES, which emits 123 grams of CO2/Km
• Greenest Multi Purpose Vehicle/MPV Award – Won by the Citroën Grand C4 Picasso 1.6 HDi SX EGS, which emits 140 grams of CO2/Km
• Greenest Sport Utility Vehicle /SUV Award – Won by the Lexus RX450h SE-L – 148 grams of CO2/Km
• Greenest Sports Car Award – Won by the Mini Cooper S – 149 grams of CO2/Km
• Greenest Luxury Car Award – Won by the Audi A8 2.8 V6 FSI SE – 199 grams of CO2/Km
• Greenest Car Technology Award – Won by the Vauxhall Ampera, a new electric car set to debut in three years’ time. 
• Editor’s Award – Won by Tesla, which produces the battery-powered Roadstar

New Environmentally Friendly Cars

Two of the most significant new environmental friendly cars – the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight - failed to make the winner’s rostrum.

Fowler – highlighting the impact of the current economic climate on green car sales – commented: “Green issues are still a hot topic, but it's fair to say that they are not right at the top of car buyers' priorities at the moment.”

“It's just as well then, that green cars will save you plenty of cash at the fuel pumps and will likely be worth more than other cars when you come to sell.”

The Volvo S40 award was presented to the firm by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who stated: “There are clear incentives for manufacturers to raise the bar higher and higher to design less gas guzzling cars that take hundreds of pounds off consumers' fuel bills.

“This is good for the planet, good for the economy and great for the driver.”

In April 2009, Mayor Johnson unveiled plans to make London the electric car capital of Europe, with 100,000 electric cars being driven around its roads. 

Volvo S40 DRIVe image copyright of Volvo Car Corporation