BMW i3 was named Green Car 2015, among Audi A3 TDI, Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel, Honda Fit & Volkswagen Golf

By Karen Ostlund
The 5 finalists for 2015 Green Car of the Year^:: Audi A3 TDI, BMW i3, Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel, Honda Fit, and Volkswagen Golf were additionally honored with Green Car Journal's 2015 Green Car Product of Excellence^™.

BMW i3 2015 Green Car at LA Auto-show

BMW's i3, an innovative electric car built with a lightweight carbon fiber passenger cell and an aluminum drive module, was selected Green Car Journal's 2015 Green Car of the Year^®.
 The award was announced at the LA Auto Show and accepted by Jacob Harb, Head of Electrical Sales & Strategy for BMW.  Green Car of the Year^® finalists also included the Audi A3 TDI, Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel, Honda Fit, and VW Golf.
The Green Car of the Year^® award is an honor widely recognized as the auto industry's most important environmental accolade. Green Car Journal the leading voice in the intersection of automobiles, energy, and  environment.
The publication's launched in 1992, and celebrated the high-profile award's 10th anniversary at the L.A. Auto Show this year.

BMW- i3-2015 interior

 "BMW's i3 is a milestone vehicle in many respects and illustrates the automaker's expansive vision of future motoring," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and CarsOfChange.com. "It is purposefully designed with a small environmental footprint and zero emissions, offering the best features of an electric vehicle with the functionality of an available on board engine-generator that nearly doubles its battery electric range." 
The i3 is designed as a battery electric car, its optional REx gasoline engine-generator enables extended driving range with electricity created on board easing potential range anxiety.
"Unlike other manufacturers that build vehicles and then create advanced powertrains to go in them, BMW rethought the whole process of building a car from the ground-up, using new materials and techniques," said noted TV personality and avid car collector Jay Leno, pointing out one of many strengths the i3 had going into the competition. Jay Leno has been one of Green Car Journal's Green Car of the Year^® jurors since the award program launched in 2005.

BMW i3-2015  backside view

 Along with Jay Leno, the Green Car of the Year^® jury included leaders of noted environmental and efficiency organizations including Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of Ocean Futures Society; Matt Petersen, board member of Global Green USA; Mindy Lubber, President of CERES; Kateri Callahan, President of the Alliance to Save Energy, and Dr. Alan Lloyd, President Emeritus of the International Council on Clean Transportation and  former CalEPA Secretary and Chairman of the California Air Resources Board.    The jury was rounded out by a smaller number of Green Car Journal editors. The magazine's selecting process considers all vehicles, fuels, and technologies.
The nominees were narrowed down to five finalists that significantly raised the bar in environmental performance. Vehicles to be considered finalists must be all-new, or in the early stages of their model life-cycle, and be on sale by January 1 2015.