Green is not a vehicle type. SmartGreen measures how well a vehicle delivers fuel economy and environmental friendliness without asking its owner to give up the styling, room, power and price they wanted in the first place.
How SmartGreen is calculated
Smart
Perceived quality and overall value: the same owner ratings behind the Total Quality Index and the Total Value Index.
Green
Owner ratings of fuel economy and of the vehicle’s environmental friendliness, on the Edwards Commitment Scale.
Weighting
Each attribute is weighted by how well it predicts advocacy, overall satisfaction, future brand choice and loyalty: the behaviors that turn into model and brand sales.
Why a hybrid alone is not enough
Being a hybrid or an EV does not guarantee a strong score. A hybrid whose owners rate its interior or its value below the competition can land at or below its segment average, while a conventional vehicle that pairs good fuel economy with styling, performance and affordability can lead its segment.
Every vehicle in every segment is scored, including full-size SUVs and pickups. Green matters to those owners too.
The award
The vehicle with the highest SmartGreen score in each segment is the segment leader. Beyond the leaders, strong models earn Five Star and Four Star SmartGreen ratings.
SmartGreen ratings can be calculated for every model in a manufacturer’s lineup from existing NVES data.
SmartGreen is not the same as the New Energy Vehicles award, which measures how owners of EVs, hybrids and plug-in hybrids feel about their vehicles.