Since the advent of the Toyota Prius in the year 2000, the auto industry has been on an exponential transformation toward like-minded vehicles. Today, with two decades of evolution behind us, we wanted to explore the fruit that’s descended from this tree—so, without any further adieu, here are the best models to ‘go green’ with in 2024…
First up is the 2024 Jeep Gladiator, whose “High Velocity” hue veers so far toward yellow that you could barely call it green—but it nevertheless has a green tint, so it’s made the cut as one of our bookends. This is a sickening green you’d likely only find on poisonous plants, as a clear indicator you ought not ingest.
Next on the spectrum is “Zesty Yellow,” which, despite calling itself a shade of mustard, has more green to it than “High Velocity.” Its hue resembles a biohazardous goo, and you’ll find it available on the “Iconic” trim level for the 2024 Mini Cooper S Hardtop 4-Door and “John Cooper Works” Convertible.
Here’s where things start to get weird: either the greens branch sharply into neon, descend into darkness, or wash out and fade to gray. As for the neons, you really only see such bold commitment to “greenly greens” in speedsters, like the 2024 Aston Martin’s “Lime Essence,” which looks like it should glow in the dark, or the 2024 Audi RS3’s “Kyalami Green,” which is about as true to “green” as you can get.
The darkness-bound greens begin about here on the spectrum, with the closest comparable shade being “Eruption Green Metallic” on the 2024 Ford Bronco. If “Lime Essence” is your Crayola 24-Pack’s “Light Green,” and “Kyalami Green” is its “Green,” then “Eruption Green Metallic” is its “Dark Green.”
You get a slight diversion into bluishness with the 2024 Jeep Wrangler’s “Bikini Pearl,” followed by “British Racing Green [IV Metallic]” available for the “Iconic” trims of the 2024 Mini Cooper S Countryman and Hardtop 4-Door as well as for the 2024 [Land Rover] Range Rover. Its designation is most apt since, upon glimpsing it, the first thing I think is, “Those who like watching soccer are allowed to get drunk before noon.”
The 2024 Toyota RAV4 is newly available in “Army Green” for its off-roading trims, but it isn’t so much “military” green as it is “bullfrog” green—but I suppose nobody wants to buy an SUV that’s marketed as “froggy.” The 2024 Nissan Pathfinder’s “Obsidian Green Pearl” is a darker shade of the RAV4’s, and the 2024 Honda HR-V’s “Nordic Forest Pearl” is darker still, with an appropriate Douglas-Fir-esque name.
This is where the green goes out the window because everything hereafter is too black to retain any resemblance to foliage. The 2024 Ford F-150 Raptor has a new “Shelter Green” color option, which is only green if you think “coal-caked earth” is green. Ford’s 2024 Expedition takes it even further toward nonsense with its new “Wild Green,” which you could only consider “wild” if you think bulkhead doors or oil pans are wild; this so-called green is so black it makes the 2024 Mini “John Cooper Works” Convertible’s long-winded “John Cooper Works Rebel Green” look actually somewhat green—and this color was designed to look black when not in direct sunlight!
On the other wing of the green spectrum, the toward-gray hues—interestingly enough—also begin with the 2024 Ford Bronco, with the barely-green “Cactus Gray.” Of the same ilk (yet slightly greener) is the “Cacti Green” color available on the 2024 Chevy Trax, Trailblazer, and Corvette E-Ray; this hue is quite soothing despite looking like it belongs on Pantone’s pastel palette for baby poop.
Next up is the 2024 Kia Sportage’s “Jungle Green,” which is actually just the color sage. I don’t know why they thought “Sage” wasn’t exotic or enticing enough for a car color and instead went with “Jungle Green,” especially since Crayola’s jungle green is a rich medium-spring tone (and Crayola invented jungle green in 1990, so I think they know what it looks like), as opposed to the “halfway between slate and citron” that this car actually is, because it’s fucking sage.
If you get the topmost trim of the all-new, all-electric 2024 Kia EV9, you can get it in “Ice Green,” which has about as much to do with ice as Texas; this hue is essentially just sage with a tint of teal. We stray further from “true sage” with the 2024 Mini Cooper S Countryman’s “Sage Green Metallic,” which is laughably somehow less sagey than “Ice Green.”
At least the 2024 Jeep Wrangler throws an ‘R’ into the mix with “Sarge Green,” taking their military sage more toward the color of the troop transports used in the Korean War. The 2024 VW Atlas’s “Avocado Green Metallic” fades this green spectrum more toward gray, as it’s less the color of a ripe avocado’s interior and more the color of week-old guacamole.
The 2024 Nissan Frontier doesn’t even try to be green with its “Tactical Green Metallic,” as this is legit just straight-up gray—like, “Crayola crayon” gray. There’s not a damn hint of green in this gray, nor is it metallic, nor is it “tactical.” What’s so “tactical” about this color? That it’s gray and so is gunmetal? Even though Nissan also has a color for this model called “Gun Metallic?” (Nissan is a fucking joke.)
Ultimately, if you want to “go green” in 2024, your best bet is to go for a car that’s actually somewhat green: something along the lines of the Ford Bronco, Toyota RAV4, Honda HR-V, Jeep Wrangler, or Audi RS3. You could also go with the 2024 Kia Sportage, but I’m pretty upset at them for misidentifying sage, so I won’t be lending them my support.
CORRECTION: When first assigned this piece, I was under the impression I was expected to write about green vehicles, but it was later (and quite aggressively) made clear to me that “green” is synonymous with “eco-friendly,” i.e. “fuel-efficient” or “hybrid.” This is not at all what I wrote. However, if you’re interested in finding a green-colored car, I suppose this article still has some value.
