Although it was one of the most talked about green cars in the recent months, the Chevrolet Volt surprisingly didn’t make it to the top ten of the annual greenest cars list of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

Honda Civic GX bagged the no. 1 spot with its cleaner compressed natural gas technology, while electric vehicle Nissan Leaf, also a favorite among 2011 EVs, came in second. The small two-seater Smart ForTwo was third on the list and battery-powered Toyota Prius came in fourth. The Honda Civic Hybrid completed the top five.

Because of inefficient fuel economy, Chevrolet Volt fell to a disappointing and less than stellar ranking at no. 12.

The ACEEE ranks the vehicles according to their “Green Score”, with fuel economy and emissions among the top criteria for making it to the list. Diesel cars were not included in the list because they still give off higher amount of emissions as compared to gasoline-powered cars.

Although it can run on electricity and gasoline, the popular Volt still failed to impress the council with a fuel economy of only 35 miles per gallon in the city and 40 mpg on the highway.

According to ACEEE spokeswoman Shruti Vaidyanathan, “As a gasoline vehicle, the fuel economy’s not stellar.”

Weight is also considered as part of the rating system, so there was no chance the heavy 3,800-pound Volt would have made it to the top 10. The lithium-ion battery pack installed in the engine added heavily to the Volt’s total weight.

GM spokesman Rob Peterson found the ranking “laughable”.

“It’s one group’s interpretation of a measurement of ‘green’,” he stated.

Everybody knows the Smart fortwo car is one of the most promising mini cars out there. Some versions of this car have already been transformed to hybrid and electric autos, which can certainly help you save a lot of money on your gas bills. Sure you might have to deal with the glaring limitation in space, speed, and power; but this car is at the top when it comes to lessening your fuel emission and gas consumption. On the other hand, the SEMA show in Las Vegas just exhibited what may seem to be Bruce Wayne’s effort to lessen his bat mobile’s emissions and that’s through the Batsmart. It’s essentially a Smart fortwo equipped with nifty bat mobile wings, while painted in black. Yeah, it’s definitely far from being the real bat mobile, but other people will surely see the similarity once you start flaunting it.

The Batsmart is not necessarily menacing although when it comes to fuel economy, this car is second to none. The Batsmart has an astonishing 60 mpg rating for the gasoline model. For starters, that means you’ll get 60 miles out of every gallon of fuel when you drive it. Meanwhile, the diesel model is even better, because you’ll be getting as much as 83 miles by consuming only one gallon. Power wise, the Batsmart is far from its more ravenous and stronger counterpart. That’s because it can only manage 40 km/h as its maximum speed. Aside from that, there’s only room for one, which means Robin has to find another way of chasing the bad guys aside from walking and running.

On a different note, the Batsmart will be available to the public in the coming months and if you really want to feel like Bruce Wayne even for a day, getting this car is a good move.