Smart's Green Credentials

[MicroNut]

I found this article today on Google News:

http://www.whatcar.com/news-article.aspx?NA=228254

A British university has published a study ranking a number of new cars according to their overall environmental impact. The study considered emissions, energy usage and end-of-life disposal costs. Although the weights given to the different criteria were somewhat arbitrary, it's good I think that they looked at factors beyond straight gas mileage.

The smart coupe and cabriolet placed first and second; the Toyota Prius finished 12th.

[Old smart]

One thing that has to give smart an edge in scoring is that they have (in Europe anyway) a formal end-of-life disposal and re-cycling program. It can be found buried in the smart international website.

[lhoboy]

If you look at the list, the ranking appears to be dependent on vehicle weight, getting back to the end of life cucle issues. Of course, the prius is further handicapped by the battery disposal issues.

[MicroNut]

Originally Posted by MicroNut

The smart coupe and cabriolet placed first and second; the Toyota Prius finished 12th.

A small correction: it was actually the (discontinued) smart roadster that placed first. The linked article below gives a little more info on the methodology and results:

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/news.php?sid=1081&page=1