Green NCAP awards green stars to 25 cars

Green NCAP, a division of the well-known Euro NCAP, has rated another range of cars based on their environmental impact. For the first time, some plug-in hybrids have also been appreciated.

Green NCAP does not test cars for safety, but for environmental friendliness. It looks at air quality, energy efficiency and greenhouse gases. On the basis of these different elements, a star rating is generated, just as with the crash tests. As you probably expected, electric cars are doing well. What is particularly interesting is what happens with plug-in hybrids, which were not included in the previous tests. Plug-ins often have a ‘green’ image, although in practice they sometimes turn out not to be as environmentally friendly as on paper. On the other hand, there are diesels, which have a bad image, but sometimes do good business in terms of air quality (thanks to the filtering of air) or efficiency.

Plugins

First of all, the three tested plug-in hybrids. The Toyota Prius 1.8 PHEV emerges as the best. It receives four stars from Green NCAP. This is mainly due to its relatively low air pollution from the fuel engine, but also to its energy efficiency. The Kia Niro 1.6 GDI PHEV does a little less with 3.5 stars, which is admittedly also quite efficient, but emits more greenhouse gases and causes a little more air pollution than the Prius. The third and last is the Mitsubishi Outlander 2.4 PHEV. It only scores two stars and is therefore in 23rd place out of 25 cars tested this month. Its relatively large combustion engine creates quite a bit of air pollution and is also not very efficient with its fuel.

Combustion engines

Also striking is the score of the Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI. Of the 25 cars tested this month, it scores the fourth place with 3.5 stars. According to Green NCAP, the car causes relatively little air pollution, but is also very efficient with its fuel. This also applies to the Volkswagen Golf 1.5 TSI, which is also in fifth place with 3.5 stars. The next car with purely a combustion engine in the top 10 is the Audi A3 Sportback with the same 1.5 TSI. It is in eighth place and receives three stars. The lowest score of the 25 cars examined goes to the Land Rover Discovery Sport D180, which receives only 1.5 stars.

Results February 2021