The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) considers the 2014 Smart ForTwo Electric the ‘greenest’ car in the U.S. market. The car topped the organization’s Greenercars.org 2014 Environmental Scores list with a 59 out of 100 score, the highest ever for the program. Also on the ‘greenest’ list, in descending order: the Toyota Prius C; Nissan LEAF; Toyota Prius; Honda Civic Hybrid; Lexus CT200h; Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid; Mitsubishi Mirage; Honda Civic Natural Ga;, Honda Insight; Smart ForTwo Convertible/Coupe; and the  VW Jetta Hybrid.

How does this work? Greenercars.org assigns each vehicle a ‘Green Score’ that incorporates lifecycle greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions. Changes were made to the methodology this year to more accurately quantify environmental impacts, including updates to evaporative emissions estimates; in-use emissions of methane and nitrous oxides; and gasoline, diesel, and natural gas ‘upstream’ emissions. Vehicles not intended to achieve significant sales volumes are not eligible for spots on the “Greenest” list.