The Honda Clarity family of vehicles has earned Green Car Journal’s 2018 Green Car of the Year Award® amid a field of finalists that all featured electrification as part of their market strategy, including the Honda Accord, Hyundai Ioniq, Nissan LEAF, and Toyota Camry. The award was announced at a Green Car Journal press conference during AutoMobilityLA at the LA Auto Show.
Honda’s Clarity sedan is a future-thinking model that redefines how to deliver what drivers desire today, while also anticipating the shifting needs of a more environmentally positive driving future. It is offered in three electrified variations – one powered by plug-in hybrid power, another exclusively by battery power, and a third by a hydrogen fuel cell that creates electricity on board. This distinguishes Honda as the first-ever automaker to do this.
The Clarity Fuel Cell, Clarity Electric, and Clarity Plug-in Hybrid use the same advanced platform and many of the same powertrain components, enabling Honda to amortize manufacturing costs. This also makes it straightforward to increase or decrease production of each variant to meet changing demand.
The winner was selected by a jury of environmental and efficiency leaders including Jean-Michel Cousteau, President of Ocean Futures Society; Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator and Board Member of Global Green USA; Dr. Alan Lloyd, President Emeritus of the International Council on Clean Transportation; Mindy Lubber, President of CERES; and Kateri Callahan, President of the Alliance to Save Energy, plus celebrity auto enthusiast Jay Leno and Green Car Journal editors.