Greenopia Rating

We have received some great feedback from the Greenopia Automaker Guide and it seems that a lot of our users wanted to see us rate individual cars. Thus, we are excited to present the Greenopia Green Car Guide.

We created and applied criteria to all cars readily available in the US and the ones seen in our listings are the greenest of the bunch. Thus even a 1 leaf car is one of the greenest autos on the market (just not as green as a 2, 3, or 4 leaf car).

We scored vehicles by weighting their mileage, emission data, collected from the EPA's SmartWay guide, and manufacturer data we originally gathered for the automaker ratings (mostly the data pertaining to the production of the car itself). Weights were set based off a rough lifecycle of the environmental impact of producing and driving a car. Typically to get an overall score of 1 leaf, a car would have to be capable of getting 30mpg on the highway and have at least an above average score on the EPA's SmartWay emission ratings.

One feature unique to these car ratings is the fact that you will see 2 different leaf ratings: an overall leaf score and vehicle class leaf score. The overall score is just what it sounds like; this is the vehicle's overall green score using our criteria. But, we realized that even though everyone knows that cars are almost always going to be greener than SUVs and trucks, there are cases where people have to buy larger vehicles. Thus we added a leaf score for each vehicle class so you can see the greenest trucks, vans, and SUVs, as well as the greenest overall vehicles that are made. Thus it is possible for a pickup truck to get 0 overall leafs, but still get 3 leaves in its class. This would mean that while it may not be an overall green vehicle, it is a green pickup truck if that is what you are shopping for.

The leaf scores break down as follow:
Achieved at least 25% or more of our above criteria after weighting.
Achieved at least 50% or more of our above criteria after weighting.
Achieved at least 75% or more of our above criteria after weighting.
Achieved at least 90% or more of our above criteria after weighting.


Fuel Efficient - Did not Qualify
In order to receive this icon a car had to be one of the most fuel efficient vehicles available. This means that the vehicle was capable of around 35mpg on the highway.

Low Emissions
We used the EPA's SmartWay data in determining how cleanly the vehicle burned relative to other vehicles. A car that receives this icon is one of the cleanest burning vehicles in both greenhouse gas and smog forming pollutant emissions.

Eco-Friendly Manufacturer - Did not Qualify
A vehicle that gets this icon is one that is made from an environmentally conscious manufacturer. This means that the automaker received 2 leaves or better in our auto maker guide and/or that the car itself is made with some eco-friendly materials including water based paints, recycled inputs, or low impact fabrics.