There’s an award for these vehicles in six different technology and vehicle segments which we think is important so that one can fairly compare apples to apples: Zero emissions vehicles (battery electric or fuel cell vehicles), plug-in hybrids (won by the Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid this year), regular hybrids (Honda Accord Hybrid), efficient internal combustion (Volkswagen Golf TDI), three-row family vehicle (Kia Rondo) and new for this year, a fun car category (Mini Cooper S). It’s true that there are big price differences within each category sometimes, and pricing is a heavily weighted factor in choosing a finalist in each category, just as it is for real buyers (and thus the Soul EV closely beating out the lovely and much admired Tesla Model S in the ZEV group). Of those six category winners, all of which are listed here and displayed over the entire three-day Green Living Show, one is chosen for the overall Canadian Green Car Award.

The AJAC CGCOTY was awarded for the first time in late March, after the group decided last year to go it alone with their own award. AJAC also has many of the best-known journalists in the country as members, and it bases its Canadian GCOTY award around back-to-back testing done in conjunction with its well-known Canadian Car and Truck/Utility of the Year testing.

Typically, AJAC car and truck of the year testing involves only all-new or totally redesigned vehicles every year, though with the CGCOTY, it seems that most of the total seven entrants were all-new for 2015, while vehicles such as the Toyota Camry Hybrid and Smart ForTwo electric drive were fairly minor refreshes.

There was also an entry fee to participate in AJAC’s Canadian GCOTY award, as there are for the mainline Car and Truck OTY awards. With seven published entrants overall – the two above plus the Acura RLX Sport Hybrid, Cadillac ELR, Honda Fit, Subaru Legacy, and winning Soul EV – the back-to-back testing methods seem worthy and well-established.

But only nominating seven vehicles for green car recognition in Canada suggests there could be great improvements in the level of participation from Canadian automakers, and/or logistical limitations to what is certainly a busy TestFest week.

For the international World Green Car awards, it is open strictly to vehicles that are all-new or heavily revised each model year, and a panel of five green vehicle experts from around the world culls down a list of vehicles into 10 nominees. Automakers don’t pay to enter, but can nominate their own vehicles, though this expert committee has final say on which 10 are nominated. Those expert jurors then drill down the initial list to five finalists, which are then ranked by all 75 well-established auto journalists of the World Car of the Year group. The vehicles with the highest points by overall ranking wins, which tends to favour the more emotional choices, such as this year’s winner, the BMW i8.

In the case of all of these awards, it’s worth looking into the criteria for each, how many and which vehicles are eligible and why on their respective websites and in coverage about each. And then consider your own budget, travel habits, and priorities, to help guide a decision on which green car is right for you.

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