TG Awards 2011: green car of the year

The Ampera is here as an example of technology that's managing to sneak under the social radar and win the green game by stealth. It combines a load of realistic green technologies to produce a car that's practical and easy to use (this really could be your only car), at a price - £29k - that's easy(ish) to swallow. It's a plug-in - with an EV-range of 50 miles, so it may never need to see a fuel station. But it's also an ER-EV, or Extended Range Electric Vehicle, so the 1.4-litre petrol engine is never connected to the wheels - it's there to drive a generator, just like the Fisker on p140, and allow for an all-up range of 310 miles on one tank.

The battery is guaranteed for 150k miles or 10 years. With a full charge, it'll do the equivalent of 175-odd mpg and 40g/km CO2. So this is exciting new tech in a normal, useful package. An EV without the range anxiety. A green car without the sense of self-righteous anger. The future's bright. The future's quite subtle.

Read this and much much more in our huge new Awards issue of TopGear magazine, on sale now