Chevy's Bolt EV is 2017 Green Car of the Year

The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt was named the "2017 Green Car of the Year" by Green Car Journal earlier today during AutoMobility LA at the 2016 LA Auto Show.

2017 Green Car of the Year

Earlier today, the 2017 Chevy Bolt was named the "2017 Green Car of the Year" by Green Car Journal. The award recognized Chevrolet's electric vehicle "for its impressive 238 mile zero-emission driving range, stylish design, pleasing driving dynamics, and welcome suite of advanced and connected technologies."

"The 2017 Bolt EV is a game-changing electric vehicle that delivers long range at an affordable price," said Steve Majoros, Marketing Director, Chevrolet Cars & Crossovers. "We're excited to have the Bolt EV arrive to select dealer showrooms later this year and honored to have it named as Green Car Journal's Green Car of the Year."

2017 Chevrolet Bolt

Reasons that led jurors to selecting the Bolt as the 2017 Green Car of the Year included the fact that it's the first mass-produced battery electric vehicle to achieve a driving range of 200-plus miles on a single charge. In addition to range, jurors were impressed by the Bolt's Regen-On-Demand mode – a feature that allows drivers to initiate more aggressive regenerative braking, via steering wheel-mounted paddles, to slow the vehicle down without using the brake pedal.

"Chevrolet's all-new 2017 Bolt is a breakthrough vehicle in every sense," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and GreenCarJournal.com. "From the time modern electric vehicles emerged in the 1990s, limited driving range has presented a core challenge to the commercialization of electric cars affordable to everyday drivers. Bolt overcomes this with its 238-mile battery electric driving range and approachable price, the first production electric car to achieve this milestone."

The Green Car of the Year is selected by a majority vote of a panel of jurors. This year's jurors included Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of Ocean Futures Society; Matt Petersen, board member of Global Green USA; Dr. Alan Lloyd, President Emeritus of the International Council on Clean Transportation; Mindy Lubber, President of CERES; and Kateri Callahan, President of the Alliance to Save Energy.

Finalists for the award must be available for sale by January 1st of the award year. Factors that are considered during the judging process include " efficiency, performance characteristics, 'newness,' affordability and overall environmental achievement" as well as "availability to the mass market."