Greenest Car Of The Year: Volvo S40 DRIVe

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And the greenest car of the year is … a diesel-powered Volvo

It may not be a streamlined hybrid, a futuristic electric vehicle or a snazzy biofuel car, but a distinctly boxy diesel Volvo has won What Car? magazine's award for the year's greenest car.

A small family car with carbon emissions on a par with Toyota's Prius, the Volvo S40 DRIVe received the award today from London mayor Boris Johnson. Vauxhall's Ampera electric car and US electric car-maker Tesla also received awards.

Johnson said: "There are clear incentives for manufacturers to raise the bar higher and higher to design less gas guzzling cars that take hundreds of pounds off consumers' fuel bills. This is good for the planet, good for the economy and great for the driver."

What Car? editor Steve Fowler said of the winning Volvo: "It's not just about a low CO2 figure. The S40 is great to drive, safe, has enough space for the family and, crucially, is cheap to run, too."

The winners:

Supermini

Fiat 500 Start&Stop £9,700, 113g/km, 58.9mpg

Small family car

Volvo S40 1.6D DRIVe S £17,495, 104g/km, 72.4mpg

Family car

Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D T2 £17,545, 135g/km, 55.4mpg

Executive car

BMW 318d ES £24,235, 123g/km, 60.1mpg

MPV

Citroën Grand C4 Picasso 1.6 HDi £19,095, 140g/km, 53.3mpg

4X4

Lexus RX450h SE-L £50,460, 148g/km, 44.8mpg

Sports car

Mini Cooper S £16,575, 149g/km, 45.6 mpg

Luxury car

Audi A8 2.8 V6 FSI SE £49,970, 199g/km, 34.0mpg

Technology

Vauxhall Ampera

Editor's award

Tesla