In a closely contested battle featuring more quality options than ever before, the 2013 Nissan Leaf electric vehicle has been awarded the top spot in Kelley Blue Books 10 best green cars list. In a closely contested battle featuring more quality options than ever before, the 2013 Nissan Leaf electric vehicle has been awarded the top spot in Kelley Blue Books 10 best green cars list. 聯This year we had an embarrassment of riches,聰 says Jack Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for KBB, who was pleased with the departure from sparer competition in years past. 聯We went round and around on which car would be number one. It was a very difficult choice. Narrowly missing the top spot was the 2012 Motor Trend Car of the Year, the Tesla Model S, which was deemed 聯the electric car most likely to gain mainstream success聰 in the future. 7,500 federal tax credit) to take the top prize. 25,790. The fully electric vehicle comes with a range of 75 miles per charge, and its 聯MPGe聰 (miles per gallon equivalent) ratings are 130 city, 102 highway, 116 combined.
In third place was the Ford Focus Electric, followed by the Chevrolet Volt, Toyota Prius Plug-In, Ford C-Max Energi, Jetta Hybrid, Honda Fit EV, Toyota Avalon, and Lincoln MKZ. Domestic brands accounted for half of the top 10, while Japan had four winners and Europe one. Ford was the single brand with the most winners with three, followed by Toyota with two. The wealth of available options included in the contest represents a recent commitment made by many automobile manufacturers to design more environmentally friendly vehicles. In past years, Kelley Blue Book was even forced to include higher-mileage gasoline powered vehicles to ensure that a top ten list could be filled. Today, every major brand features multiple vehicles options powered by electricity or other alternative fuel sources. Rising sales numbers are also showing that the increase in availability is wanted by the car buying, and earth conscious, public. Early versions of most hybrid and electric vehicles had severe range and power limitations, but those limitations are starting to deteriorate. Non-gasoline powered vehicles are quickly gaining in capability, able to travel much greater distances and requiring less time to recharge. Rather than being a novelty, these green cars are becoming a worthy alternative for many drivers, and continued development could see them becoming the most logical choice for new car buyers. In the meantime, there are already a number of options available on the road today, chief among them the 2013 Nissan Leaf, Kelley Blue Books Green Car of the Year.
The 2013 Volkswagen Jetta sedan received a 4-star rating for frontal impact and a 5-star rating for side impact from NHTSA. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the 2013 Jetta sedan a Good rating for moderate-overlap frontal impact, side impact, roof strength, and for head-restraint and seat crash performance but only a Marginal rating for small-overlap frontal impact. Volkswagen covered the 2013 Jetta with a 3-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, a 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty and a 12-year/unlimited-mile corrosion-perforation warranty. Additionally, routine maintenance and roadside assistance were covered for a 3-year/36,000-mile period. Volkswagen certified pre-owned (CPO) cars can't have more than 75,000 miles on the odometer and must be 6 years old or less. Every CPO Jetta undergoes a 112-point inspection and gets a Carfax report. The Volkswagen CPO warranty covers the whole car (bumper-to-bumper) for 2 years or 24,000 miles and includes roadside assistance. 2013 Chevrolet Cruze -- Like the Jetta, the Cruze's Opel roots give it a solid feel and fun-to-drive handling characteristics. The 1.4-liter turbo engine blends ample performance with good fuel economy. The Cruze isn't involved with GM's ignition-switch recall because it uses a newer, improved design.
The all-new 2019 Volkswagen Jetta delivers impressive and intuitive technology, increased and upscale interior space, performance and much more. Not to mention it looks fantastic! DriveSoCal鈥檚 Professor, Clinton Quan, picked one up from our friends at Ontario Volkswagen - hear his complete analysis in this iDSC Podcast. Clinton Quan: it鈥檚 got a different engine now. Very smooth, brisk acceleration. It feels a lot more premium compared to the previous Jetta, especially with that virtual dash, everything is right there at your fingertips, so it makes it really, really easy to operate. Tom Smith: Welcome to iDriveSoCal, the podcast all about mobility from the automotive capital of the United States; Southern California. Tom Smith here with the professor, Mr. Clinton Quan. Clinton Quan: Hi, Tom. Tom Smith: And today 鈥?Hello, how are you? Tom Smith: And today, we are talking about our good friends out at Ontario Volkswagen in the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario, California.
Specifically, a vehicle review. The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta. Now, to clarify before we throw it over to the professor; the 2018 Jetta GLI, we just reviewed about a month, two months ago. Tom Smith: So, that is the enthusiast鈥檚 version, right? Tom Smith: And as we discussed there, and I think in subsequent podcasts since, the Jetta was just completely redone. So this is an all-new Jetta. Tom Smith: All-new Jetta. Clinton Quan: The seventh generation. Tom Smith: Seventh generation, and the enthusiasts鈥?seventh generation, the GLI. We鈥檙e under the impression that Volkswagen is going to be putting that out. They haven鈥檛 announced that yet, but they鈥檙e going to be putting that out, probably in the next year. Clinton Quan: Probably next year-ish. Tom Smith: What have you. But so, this review is the 2019 Volkswagen Jetta. Take it away, professor. Clinton Quan: I drove the top-line trim, which is the SEL premium and for the 2019 Jetta, there are five trims.
