Electric Cars, Nissan Leaf | featured news

The Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf got top safety ratings in some of the first-ever tests of electric cars by an insurer-funded research group.

The Chevrolet Volt has won the 2011 North American Car of the Year at the Detroit auto show. The car that runs on electricity for 40 miles before a backup gas engine kicks in beat out the Nissan Leaf, another electric, and Hyundai Sonata in the annual ceremony on the first day of media previews for the Detroit auto show.

Nissan's new electric car, the Leaf, will get the equivalent of 99 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving, based on government testing.

With the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf available by year's end, shoppers will for the first time be faced with choices that include whether they want a gas-powered car. Stalled for nearly a century, electric cars are about to move into the fast lane when the first of a new generation of vehicles reaches dealer showrooms next month.