Peugeot e-208 tops 84 cars in ADAC's 2024 Ecotest, Model 3 ranks fourth

Ivan, 22 January 2025

ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, aka the General German Automobile Club) just released its Ecotest for 2024 and it's unsurprisingly dominated by electric cars. The only non-EV in the top ten is the plug-in hybrid Toyota Prius.

The test ranked 84 total cars on their environmental impact, considering both direct emissions during driving and indirect ones - from electricity production for charging.

Stellantis secured the top three spots with the Peugeot e-208 156 in first, the e-308 in second, and the Opel Corsa in third.

Peugeot e-208, e-308, Corsa Electric top ADAC's Ecotest for 2024

The e-208 and e-308 had excellent 16.0 kWh/62 miles and 16.5 kWh/62 miles, respectively, and even combined with the emissions to produce the electricity to charge them, the pair produces just 80 and 82 grams of CO₂ per kilometer. The Tesla Model 3, the largest car in the top five, was fourth with a consumption of 17.2 kWh/62 miles and just 86 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.

Let's break down the numbers. ADAC awards up to 60 points for low CO₂ emissions - the greenhouse gas that drives climate change - and up to 50 points for other pollutants - carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particles- harmful to humans. For instance, increased nitrogen oxide readings were the reason for bans on some diesel cars in some German cities.

So why does ADAC rate EVs for CO₂ emissions when they don't have an exhaust? It's because of the well-to-wheel (WTW) metric used by the ADAC - it measures how much energy (including CO₂) was used to produce the fuel (be it electricity, petrol, or gas).

The cars that got the most points for low-CO₂ emissions are generally the best in the Ecotest - the top five are the same. Meanwhile, interestingly, the cars with the full 50 points for their other pollutants were all non-EVs, like the VW Golf 1.5 TSI or the VW Passat 2.0 TDI. That's due to their efficient exhaust gas purification. ADAC's test singled out VW's Passat Variant 2.0 TDI for its extremely low proportion of pollutants in its exhaust gases and its impressive 5 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers.

The Federal Motor Transport Authority notes that 380,600 electric cars were registered in Germany in 2024 - a stark decline from the 524,200 units in 2023. It shows that the abolition of the state environmental bonus clearly impacted buyers.

ADAC Ecotest 2024

Vehicle	Type	Power kW	Ecotest CO₂ (WTW)	Points CO₂	Points pollutants	Total points
Peugeot e-208	EV	115	80	57	48	105
Peugeot e-308	EV	115	82	56	47	103
Opel Corsa	EV	115	82	56	47	103
Tesla Model 3	EV	208	86	55	45	100
Opel Astra Electric Tourer	EV	115	87	54	45	99
Peugeot e-2008	EV	115	90	53	44	97
VW ID.7 Pro	EV	210	90	53	44	97
MG4 Electric	EV	150	91	53	43	96
MG4 Electric Extended Range	EV	180	92	53	43	96
Toyota Prius 2.0	PHEV	164	104	49	46	95
Tesla Model 3 LR	EV	324	93	52	43	95
BYD Dolphin	EV	150	95	52	42	94
BMW i5 eDrive40	EV	250	95	52	42	94
Volvo EX30 Twin Motor	EV	315	97	51	42	93
Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV	EV	215	96	51	42	93
VW ID.7 Tourer GTX	EV	250	97	51	41	92
Volvo EX30 Single Motor	EV	200	98	51	41	92
Porsche Taycan	EV	320	99	50	41	91
Skoda Enyaq 85x	EV	210	101	50	40	90
Suzuki Swift 1.2	MHEV	61	130	40	49	89
Audi Q4 e-tron	EV	210	102	49	39	88
Lucid Air Dual Motor	EV	611	102	49	39	88
Renault Scenic E-Tech	EV	160	103	49	39	88
Honda e:Ny1	EV	150	103	49	39	88
Renault Clio E-Tech Hybrid	FHEV	105	132	39	47	86
BYD Seal	EV	230	106	48	38	86
Lexus LBX	FHEV	100	146	35	50	85
MG MG3 1.5	FHEV	143	146	35	49	84
VW Golf 1.5 TSI	Petrol	85	148	34	50	84
Honda Jazz Crosstar 1.5	FHEV	90	145	35	49	84