GCR: 2018 Toyota Prius Prime, Tesla Model 3 take awards for lowest environmental and social impact

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GRA

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https://www.greencarreports.com/new...ds-for-lowest-environmental-and-social-impact

Rating cars isn't just about acceleration times—or at least it shouldn't be.

Unlike other car rating organizations, the Automotive Science Group rates cars according to their life-cycle CO2 emissions, based on a combination of their fuel economy and weight, as a proxy for the materials consumed in their production, as well as social and economic factors in their production.

This year, the Toyota Prius Prime earned the group's Best All-Around Performance title for its 133-MPGe EPA rating, its 25-mile electric range, low manufacturing footprint, and end-of-life recyclability.

The awards are intended to guide new-car buyers, and thus focus on the first 6.5 years and 100,000 miles of a car's life—the average first-ownership cycle for a new car.

ASG notes the Prius's rapid improvement in social and environmental factors since its introduction 18 years ago. For example, every new Toyota Prius uses biodegradable upholstery and dashboard materials. ASG expects the Prius Prime to emit 181 grams of CO2 per mile, counting its manufacturing. and disposal.

Although the Pius Prime proved the greenest car for new-car buyers who want to minimize their social and carbon impact, several all-electric cars proved even greener than the Prius Prime over their full life cycles, including the Tesla Model 3, the Chevy Bolt EV, Nissan Leaf, and Ford Focus Electric. Over its predicted lifetime, the Tesla Model 3 is expected to emit 161 grams of CO2 per mile. The Chevy Bolt EV is expected to emit 164 grams per mile, and the 2017 Nissan Leaf, 167 grams.

Since most new-car buyers don't hold onto their cars for their full life cycle, ASG rates new cars based on a normal ownership cycle of 6.5 years. The carbon footprint of producing lithium-ion batteries is front-loaded into the sales of new cars, and offset gradually over time by lower energy consumption in the ASG study.

Electric cars, especially those with big batteries, take longer to make up for the production of their batteries.

"As you extend the Fuel Model beyond 6.5 years to the vehicle's full expected life cycle, the power grid continues to improve year-over-year, with lower CO2 emissions per kwh delivered, it builds further on the [electric car's] operational benefits in terms of reduced greenhouse gas emissions," said ASG spokesperson Colby Self in an email to Green Car Reports. "We include year-over-year improvements to the power grid, including line loss factors, and we see the Model 3 surging ahead of the PHEVs in later years. . . ."
 
From the linked article:

"The rating include vehicles' performance against social standards set by the United Nations, including social performance, including respect for human rights, labor practices, environmental responsibility in manufacturing. Counting those factors alone, small, inexpensive cars scored big: the Mitsubishi Mirage (and Mirage G4), Nissan Versa, and Chevrolet Spark. These economic factors also weigh more heavily early in a car's life,"

I really like that they considered social impact (human rights and labor practices) in the manufacturing and life of the cars. Child labor issues in raw material source countries will be a problem for EVs. But labor problems exist for oil production in many parts of the world. A study that factors these in is long overdue and I appreciate them giving these aspects some weight.

I can't seem to find in the links the charts that show how each vehicle placed in their study. Did I miss that? Or is that privileged info and we plebians only get the press release that praises the Prime and a few others they decided to profile? I did see where the Prius C placed 17th, which qualified as the best scoring traditional hybrid. But I'd really like to see where the different models stand in relation to each other.
 
I'd also like to see an additional column for the environment score for those of us who have home solar production and don't drive on the local power grid mix. I think that could change the rankings to give even more leverage to EVs when the prospective buyer has that as an option.
 
I also take issue with their dismissal of cars that aren't sold nationwide. For those of us lucky enough to have a full spectrum of options, it would be good to know what the better choices are. Was there a car that beats the Prime that is available to us in California but not elsewhere? If so, those of us in California should be able to know that and consider that as an option.
 
Not sure if this provides the info people are looking for, but it's all I could find that ranks the cars at the ASG site: https://www.automotivescience.com/pages/2018-study

There's a note in that link as follows:
[Please note that ASG’s 2018 findings and graphical illustrations will populate the ASG site by June 7. We have released select findings in this section, and intend to provide a comprehensive view by June 7]
 
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