clear allLow emission cars 2020
Below is a list of the lowest emission cars, including electric, plug-in hybrid, petrol and diesel cars, available to buy new in 2020. Selecting a low emission car is important to reduce your impact on the environment and also to reduce your fuel and tax bill. Select a vehicle class or other criteria to further focus your search and to find a suitable low CO2 car.
The selection criteria for the list of low emission cars is tail-pipe CO2 emissions which do not tell the full story; Next Green Car has developed the NGC Rating, a unique lifecyle rating which takes into account not just the tail-pipe CO2 emissions but also the CO2 emissions and air pollutants across the life of a vehicle. To calculate emissions for a specific vehicle and distance use the Car Emissions Calculator
If you wish to refine your search by more criteria, please use the new car search.
Click here for information on the VW diesel NOx scandal
What are the different types of vehicle emissions?
All petrol and diesel engines produce harmful exhaust emissions including carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
These emissions not only contribute to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases leading to climate change and but also have an impact on air quality. Road transport also remains the main source of many local emissions and air pollution, more info is available in the types and impact section.
Electric cars are zero emission at the point of use, however emissions are produced during electricity generation, with the amount of emissions dependent on the type of power generation. Thus emissions from electric vehicles need to be considered on a lifecycle basis in order to include emissions from power stations. See how green are electric cars? for a high-level view on the impact of electric cars on climate change and air quality measures.
Next Green Car provides a unique lifecycle NGC Rating for all models which takes into account all emissions, not just tail-pipe CO2. This is more comprehensive than definitions of low emission cars which look at tail-pipe CO2 only. The UK government has recently defined an Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) as one which emits 75g CO2/km or less. These vehicles qualify for a 100% discount on the London Congestion Charge.
Data in the search results above are updated weekly from the Next Green Car database.
