The Honda Insight, the car that is already providing stiff competition for the ubiquitous Toyota Prius, has been named Green Car of the Year 2009 by the Environmental Transport Association (ETA). The new family-sized hybrid is available to test-drive at Greener Company Car in Action which runs until Thursday.

The ETA examined over 1300 models of car currently on sale in Britain and compared their power, emissions, fuel efficiency and even the amount of noise they produce to create a definitive guide to buying the greenest vehicle.

A fully searchable database of the results and full details on each car is available at www.greencarawards.co.uk.

Andrew Davis, director at the Environmental Transport Association,
said: "The discrepancy between the greenest and the least green cars in Britain today is striking, but the market is changing and a combination of consumer pressure alongside government leadership will result in an increasing choice of environmentally-sound cars."

"The big problem is not the Dodge SRT-10s and Lamborghinis because there are not many of them on the road," explains Andrew Davis, director of the ETA. "The concern is that people are continuing to buy cars that are much too big for their real needs. "

The popularity of large 4x4s like the Porsche Cayenne, which is many times more damaging to the environment than for example a BMW 320d, winner in the Large Family Car category, is already on the decrease; a new system of emissions-based road tax means owners of gas guzzlers pay over £400 per year.

"With the increasing costs of motoring and the threat to the environment there has never been a more important time to choose greener cars."

Other category winners at the Green Car Awards

Greenest car overall: Honda Insight 1.3 IMA ES (101g/km) 
Least green car overall: Dodge SRT-10 (488g/km)
Large Family - best: BMW 3 Series 320d with particulate filter (144g/km)
Large Family - worst : BMW M3 (309g/km)
Supermini - best: Toyota Yaris 1.4 D-4-D 6-speed (109g/km)
Supermini - worst: Renault Clio Renault Sport 200 (195g/km)
Small Family - best: Honda Insight 1.3 IMA ES (101g/km)
Small Family - worst: Volkswagen Golf R32 4MOTION (255g/km)
City - best: Toyota iQ 1.0 VVT-i (99g/km)
City - worst: Ford Ka, Post 2006 1.6 Duratec Sportka (182g/km)
Sports - best: Vauxhall Tigra 1.3CDTi 16v (124g/km)
Sports - worst: Dodge SRT-10 (488g/km)
MPV - best: S-Max 1.8 Duratorq TDCi (164g/km) 
MPV - worst: Mercedes-Benz R-Class R63 AMG (387g/km)
Small MPV - best: Renault Modus 1.5 dCi 86 Quickshift 5 (119g/km)
Small MPV - worst: Mercedes-Benz Viano 3.5 (284g/km)
Executive - best: BMW 5 Series 520d saloon with particulate filter (136g/km)
Executive - worst: Cadillac CTS-V (350g/km)
Off road - best: Subaru Outback AWD (153g/km)
Off road - worst: Cadillac Escalade 6.2 V8 (383g/km)
Luxury - best: JAguar XJ 2.7L Diesel Saloon (209g/km)
Luxury - worst: Bentley Brooklands Coupé (465g/km)