Green Car of the Year finalists prepare for the Los Angeles Auto Show

Green Car Journal selects five new cars for its annual award.

Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars

Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.

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Andrew Krok

Oct. 15, 2015 3:45 p.m. PT

2 min read

Every year, Green Car Journal selects five cars as finalists for its Green Car of the Year Award, presented annually at the Los Angeles Auto Show. With the 2015 show just a month away, the list of five finalists is now public, and there's a heavy focus on electrification. Somewhat unsurprisingly,

Audi A3 Sportback e-tron

Last year, the A3's diesel variant made this list. This year, the honor goes to the e-tron, Audi's plug-in hybrid hatchback. Starting at $37,900 (£35,005 in the UK, AU$62,490 in Australia), the e-tron is capable of 19 miles on electricity alone, thanks to an 8.8kWh lithium-ion battery. When the juice runs out, a 1.4-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine is there to keep the wheels moving. While it's been on sale in Europe since late last year, the car arrives at US dealerships this month.

Chevrolet Volt

With a 20 percent larger battery and a total cruising range of 420 miles, the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Volt is GM's best plug-in hybrid to date. While gathering initial impressions, we noted that improved handling and acceleration make the Volt a surprisingly fun car to drive. Its less-futuristic design language might appeal to more buyers, and it's still a better all-around car than its forebear.

Honda Civic

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The 2016 Honda Civic marks the long-running compact car's tenth generation, and the new model promises efficiency and space like never before. Honda first showed off the car in sedan form, but coupe and five-door hatchback variants are on the way. It's also the first Civic to feature a turbocharged engine. EPA estimates are not yet available, but Honda believes the Civic will achieve over 40 mpg combined without any electrification.

Hyundai Sonata

The Sonata is the jack-of-all-trades in this lineup, available with gasoline, hybrid-electric and plug-in powertrains. The plug-in should achieve 24 miles on just battery power, and the hybrid variant achieves approximately 43 mpg on the highway. Debuting in 2015, the new Sonata impressed us with its bang-for-your-buck mix of technology and performance. The design is safer than it used to be, but like the Volt, that's just a power play to try and bring more buyers through dealership doors.

Toyota Prius

The ur-hybrid returns to the Green Car of the Year list, thanks to an all-new generation that steals some very polarizing design elements from Toyota's hydrogen-powered Mirai. A smaller battery gives occupants more space to store cargo, but that won't have any effect on its fuel economy -- in fact, Toyota believes the new Prius will achieve 10 percent greater mileage than before.