Why are there hardly any green EVs?

By Jeff Nisewanger on March 9, 2018 • ( 3 )

Efficient zero or relatively low emission plug-in cars like a Nissan LEAF or a Toyota Prius Prime are common referred to as “green” cars that are better for the environment than most other cars.

There are online sites dedicated to them like GreenCarReports and GreenCarCongress. If someone tells you that they like your green car you might happily agree even if you paid extra to get a premium paint color like Harbor Blue or Yukon Yellow.

But what if you wanted an actual green-colored green car today? For the most part, you would be out of luck.

Forget Tesla — none of their cars come in green. Cross that BMW i3 off your list as well. Same goes for the Fiat 500e and the Chevrolet Bolt EV. A Prius Prime or Ford Fusion Energi won’t do the job either. Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Audi A3 e-tron, or Porsche Cayenne SE? No, no, no, and no. Nor any “green” Hyundai or Kia plug-in model.

In fact, none of the more than 25 cars used to illustrate an article on Green Vehicles on Wikipedia is literally green.

The 2018 Nissan LEAF in Jade Frost. Is this really a green car?

It turns out that you can get a Nissan LEAF in Jade Frost but that’s a bit of a whitewash much like a Chevrolet Volt in Green Mist. There is also a Smart ED partial green option but only a small portion of the back of the car would be green and the rest would be some other color. What if you want a seriously green car?

One possibility is a Ford Focus EV in Outrageous Green. That would do the job.

Or maybe a Great Falls Green Volkswagen e-Golf. A Honda Clarity PHEV or electric in Moonlit Forest could be nice.

Or, just maybe, a Tesla Model 3 with an aftermarket paint job.