Green Car Vision winner crowned

(Nissan)

The Nissan Leaf has been awarded Green Car Journal's Green Car Vision 2010 Award at the Washington Auto Show.

The Leaf beat competition from the Coda electric sedan, Ford Focus BEV electric car, Mercedes-Benz F-Cell hydrogen fuel cell vehicle and the Toyota Prius PHV plug-in hybrid to take the prize. The Green Car Vision award recognizes the potential impact of vehicles that are at the early stages of commercialization. Last year's winner was the Chevrolet Volt, which is set to enter production this year. Nissan expects commercial production of the Leaf to begin in 2012.

"Nissan's move to offer a stylish battery electric vehicle as part of its model line is significant," says Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com. "This coming electric model will provide the features, the styling, and the driving experience that will meet the needs of a sophisticated and demanding market, while producing zero localized emissions and requiring no petroleum fuels."

Green Car Journal particularly praised the "approachable price" of the electric car, including monthly payments and operating costs estimated to be no more than those of a comparable combustion vehicle and the fuel required.

The Audi A3 TDI was named Green Car of the Year at the LA Auto Show in December last year, another key award presented by Green Car Journal.

The Washington Auto Show (http://www.washingtonautoshow.com/) runs January 27-31.

Website: www.greencar.com/