Used to be you had to pick power over efficiency, but those days are long gone. Now you can be an environmentalist who gets your need for speed on.
The 2015 Tesla Model S P85D topped the 2015 AAA Green Car Guide, which was released today. The Tesla earned the top score in a field of more than 80 other “green” vehicles.
If you remember correctly, this is also the Tesla that literally made people go nuts for its “insane” mode. The Tesla can go zero to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, according to Tesla’s site.
The fifth annual guide reviewed “battery electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, compressed natural gas-powered (CNG) vehicles, clean diesels, hybrids, partial zero emission vehicles (PZEVs), and vehicles with high fuel economy.” The vehicles were then given test drives by the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center (ARC), which then scored and rated them in 13 categories, including handling, emissions and comfort, according to the AAA release.
“For the 2015 guide, the research center divided the vehicles into six car classifications and identified the winners and finalists in each category,” said ARC manager Megan McKernan in the release. “We also recognized overall ‘Green Car’ and ‘Best Value’ winners. The Tesla took two awards – best overall and large car category. All evaluators rated the Tesla high for comfort and ride quality. It handled well on our slalom course, and it has the best acceleration times of all the vehicles.”
The top-scoring green cars overall below:
- 2015 Tesla S P85D Performance (Electric) 94.87
- 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf SEL Premium (Electric) 85.50
- 2014 BMW i3 (Electric) 85.40
- 2015 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium Partial Zero-Emissions 83.86
- 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI SE Clean Diesel 80.91
The Green Guide didn’t appear to be online quite yet, but AAA’s release says that it will be available there soon and can also be downloaded on the iPad via its site here: www.AAA.com/greencar.
Watch the video about the Tesla S P85D below:
