One week after our sister site GreenCarReports announced the contenders for the 2011 Best Car To Buy Green award, the judges have crowned an all-electric car the winner. 

 

Beating the other nominees, including the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, 2011 Honda CR-Z, 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and 2011 Lexus CT200h, the all-electric 2011 Nissan Leaf came out top.

With a 100 mile all-electric range, five seats and excellent road manners the 2011 Nissan Leaf easily won the green title. 

We loved its easy-to-read gauges, no-nonsense approach to combating range anxiety and practicality. 

When the Nissan Leaf arrives later this year it will be the first mass-produced, practical, five seat, highway-capable family electric car to reach the market since the early part of the twentieth century. 

While you will have to wait to buy one unless you’re one of the 20,000 who has already reserved their car, the team of editorial judges at GreenCarReports decided that wait was well worth it. 

The judges used theCarConnection’s review system, which awards a rating out of 10 to every commercially available car we’ve driven, to figure out which car should win. 

In the ratings system of our sister site, the 2011 Nissan Leaf scored 8.2 out of 10. The 2011 Chevrolet Volt came a close second, with a rating of 8.0 out of 10. 

And using GreenCarReport’s new Green Rating Score, both cars achieved a perfect 10 out of 10. 

What of range anxiety? What of the Volt?

The judges had a tough time choosing as our John Voelcker points out, but the Leaf’s 100 mile range per charge helped pip the Volt to the prize. 

For those needing to travel less than 100 miles a day the $32,000 Nissan Leaf could easily be the only car you’ll ever need. For those with a requirement for larger range trips for the weekend, for example, the 2011 Nissan Leaf offers an ideal second car candidate. 

You can read our in-depth reasons for crowing the Leaf the Best Green Car To Buy in 2011 over at GreenCarReports.com. 

And if you’re interested in which cars won Best Car To Buy 2011 awards from our sister sites MotorAuthority and TheCarConnection do check them out too - the 2011 Hyundai Sonata and the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe And Wagon.

Our congratulations to Nissan! Of course, we can’t wait to see how Nissan fares in the ultimate market test: the race to consumers’ wallets.