General Motors unveiled the long-awaited electric car, the Volt, today.

GM said the Volt will cost about 80 cents to fully charge at a rate of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is about the national average. After that, the batteries will be recharged by a small gasoline engine that allows the car to travel hundreds more miles. GM said the engine will be able to run on E85 ethanol, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

“It’s proof that the century-old General Motors is alive and well and that it intends to lead in reinventing the automobile,” Wagoner said.

The Volt is due in U.S. showrooms by November 2010.

Most small cars aren’t economical for crash repairs, says a news release from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. To assess and compare bumper performance in low-speed impacts, the Institute conducted a series of four crash tests — full front and rear, plus front and rear corner impacts.

While the purpose of a bumper is to absorb the energy of a low-speed collision and slow the vehicles before there’s damage to expensive-to-repair parts like fenders and hoods, modern front-end styling results in bumper designs that can either slide under the bumpers of other vehicles or that simply don’t have enough room to absorb the energy of a low-speed crash. What this means is that even a small impact can cost you big when it comes to new small cars.

The Institute’s findings:

The front bumper of the Ford Focus is tall enough to do a reasonably good job in the full-width test. Repairs cost less than $600. In contrast, damage to the Hyundai Elantra of nearly $5,000 in the same test is equal to almost one-third of the car’s sales price.

Underride is a frequent cause of significant damage in the tests, just like in real-world crashes. For example, the front bumpers of the Volkswagen Rabbit and Honda Civic underrode the barrier in the front full-width test resulting in damage to their grilles, hoods, fenders and air-conditioning condensers. Similarly, the Toyota Prius sustained nearly $4,000 damage in the rear full-width test because its bumper is mounted too low to be in position to protect the vehicle’s tailgate, rear body panel and taillights.

In the front corner test of the right side of the Prius, damage was much less, about $1,200, involving the fender and headlight. But had the test been conducted on the left side, the barrier would have crushed a coolant tank which costs more than $1,000 to replace, not including labor.

You can read the full report here.

Photo courtesy of Ford

Via MotherProof:

“Here’s an interesting recall: Smart USA is recalling some of its 2008 Smart ForTwo cars that have problematic paint. Testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found a batch of defective paint was used on 43 Smart ForTwos. The defective paint could lead to ‘de-laminating’ around the car’s windshield and roof.

What this means is that the windshield or roof could come off of the car’s body. And lead to a crash, of course.

To find out if they’re affected by the recall, Smart ForTwo owners should call Smart USA at 248-648-2451. Smart dealers will repaint the affected areas. Until then, wear a helmet and goggles!”

(Emphasis mine because that is really scary!)

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently completed front, side, and rear crash test evaluations of eight small SUV models. For the first time, every model the Institute tested comes equipped with electronic stability control as standard equipment.

The best performers, earning the Institute’s Top Safety Pick award, are:

2009 Ford Escape

2008 Mitsubishi Outlander

2008 Nissan Rogue

2009 Volkswagen Tiguan

These four models earn good ratings in all  three of the Institute’s evaluations. They are equipped with standard electronic stability control and side airbags. The Escape’s ratings also apply to the hybrid version, which is also sold as the Mercury Mariner and Mazda Tribute.

Not performing as well was the two-door Jeep Wrangler in the side-impact tests. Tested without its optional side airbags, the Wrangler earned the lowest rating of poor. One problem was that the driver door opened during the impact. (When side airbags are optional, the Institute’s policy is to test without the option because this is how most of the vehicles will be sold.)

The redesigned 2009 Acura TSX, a midsize luxury car, wins the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Pick award. Winners afford superior overall crash protection among the vehicles in their classes. To qualify, a vehicle must earn the highest rating of good in the Institute’s front, side, and rear tests and be equipped with electronic stability control. The new TSX improved in the side test from acceptable to good and in the rear test from poor to good, compared with the previous model.

“This is the third Acura and the eighth model from Honda to earn our top award,” says Institute president Adrian Lund. “Frontal crashworthiness has improved dramatically for all cars in recent years, but there still are significant differences in how vehicles perform in our side and rear tests.”

In 2007 the Institute made the criteria to earn Top Safety Pick tougher by adding a requirement — winners must be equipped with electronic stability control. Known by different names and called vehicle stability assist on the TSX, ESC helps drivers maintain control in the worst situation — loss of control at high speed — by engaging automatically when it senses vehicle instability and helping to bring a vehicle back in the intended line of travel. ESC lowers the risk of a fatal single-vehicle crash by about half. It lowers the risk of a fatal rollover crash by as much as 80 percent.

“You don’t know what kind of crash you’re going to be in,” Lund says, “so it’s important to choose a vehicle that will protect you in all kinds of crashes.”

You can read the full story at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Web site.

The Acura TSX sports a 16-valve, DOHC, 2.4-liter, i-VTEC inline four-cylinder, pumping out 201 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque. EPA mileage estimates are 21 miles per gallon city and 30 mpg highway. Its starting price is $28,960.

When you think hybrid, you probably think fuel efficient. You probably don’t think fast. But some may be quicker than you think. This slide show from Forbes Autos runs down the fastest hybrids currently available. The vehicles on the list make the zero-to-60 trip in about 8 seconds or quicker, with two coming in under six seconds. The fastest is the Lexus GS 450h, hitting zero to 60 in just 5.2 seconds. That’s half a second quicker than the non-hybrid V-8 Lexus GS 460.

The rest of the list:

• Lexus LS 600h L (5.5 seconds)
• Nissan Altima Hybrid (7.1 seconds)
• Lexus RX 400h (7.5 seconds with front-wheel drive, 7.3 seconds with all-wheel drive)
• Toyota Highlander Hybrid (8.1 seconds)
• (Tie) Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and GMC Yukon Hybrid (8.3 seconds)

But if you want a really fast hybrid, take a look at the Scorpion. It’s a hydrogen hybrid that gets up to 40 miles per gallon and reaches zero to 60 in a mere 3.5 seconds. It’s not currently available, so it doesn’t technically make the list above.

Consumer Reports considered road tests, reliability and safety, then picked these vehicles as the best in their categories:

Top vehicle: Toyota Prius ($24,000)

Top pickup: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew Cab ($27,000-$39,000)

Top small SUV: Toyota RAV4 ($23,000-$30,000)

Top small sedan: Hyundai Elantra SE ($18,000)

Top midsized SUV: Hyundai Santa Fe ($22,000-$31,000)

Top family sedan: Honda Accord ($22,000-$31,000)

Top minivan: Toyota Sienna ($24,000-$37,000)

Top upscale sedan: Infiniti G35 ($33,000-$35,000)

Most fun to drive: Mazda MX-5 Miata ($27,000)

Top Luxury Sedan: Lexus LS 460L ($77,000)

Most of these top 10 are reasonably priced (depending on trim levels and options), and the list offers a variety of types of vehicles (Consumer Reports isn’t telling you you have to drive a tiny economy car). But, there is only one American car company on the list, and Hyundai, who until recently wasn’t considered top notch has two vehicles on the list. Hyundai’s Elantra beat out the Honda Civic EX and Mazda 3 in the small sedan category, while the Santa Feedged out the Honda Pilot among midsized SUVs.

To read more about each vehicle, visit this slide show on msnbc.com.

Photo courtesy of Toyota

If you’re thinking of trading in a gas-guzzler for a small — really small — car with better gas mileage and if you’re considering the Smart ForTwo, there’s good news for you today: The Smart ForTwo earned the top rating of good for front and side crash protection from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

“The big question from consumers is, ‘How safe is it?’”, says Institute president Adrian Lund. “All things being equal in safety, bigger and heavier is always better. But among the smallest cars, the engineers of the Smart did their homework and designed a high level of safety into a very small package.”

To read the full review and watch a video of IIHS’s tests, click here.

Chrysler has released the long-awaited Challenger. And despite its 13 miles per gallon city/18 mpg highway, the car is already sold out, according to this story from the Associated Press. “Chrysler has already sold all 6,400 of the 2008 Challengers it plans to make for the U.S. market as well as several hundred for buyers in Mexico and Canada. Spokeswoman Kristin Tyll said Chrysler will begin taking orders for the 2009 Challenger in the next few weeks.”

Even though Chrysler recently announced that it will give buyers of most of its vehicles at Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealerships a card that can be used for purchases of gas or diesel fuel, locking in the price at $2.99 a gallon for three years, that deal does not extend to the Challenger.

The article goes on to quote Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst for the Waltham, Mass.-based consulting company Global Insight: “Some people will be appalled by (the Challenger). But there’s a portion of the market that’s appalled by the Prius too. This is a fashion accessory. It’s not intended to be a practical appliance. This is the type of vehicle that the American marketplace really thrives on and was built on.”

It’s a tough-looking car, sporting a 6.1-liter HEMI V-8 with 425 horsepower. People looking to buy this car probably aren’t thinking about high gas prices or the environment. They’re looking for a mean muscle car that brings to mind fast cars of the late ’60s and early ’70s. As the quote above says, “this is a fashion accessory.” You wouldn’t wear your diamond tiara or Rolex everyday — well, most of us wouldn’t — so you probably wouldn’t drive your gas-guzzling muscle car everyday. You can’t really compare it to a full-size pick-up truck, which has its practical uses for hauling or towing. Even a full-size SUV can carry a lot of people.

With all that in mind, the Challenger does seem a bit irresponsible, a bit of a bad boy. Then again, I guess that’s the point.

Photo courtesy of Chrysler 

I hate to admit this, but I put off getting my car’s oil changed. My car has an oil life monitor, and at 15 percent, an indicator displays when I turn on the car. A little wrench lights up, and the display shows the oil life. I can turn it off during that trip, but it comes back on each time I start the car — just a little reminder that the oil life is almost up. I drove around for a while with that little wrench coming back on. One day, the wrench was there and the indicator said 5 percent. Apparently, once you reach 5 percent, the oil dies quicker because it dropped to 0 percent before the end of that trip. Today, I took the car to have for an oil change. The indicator went from -5 percent to -8 percent during the drive over. It gets really insistent.

Why do I put off my oil changes? I really don’t know. The service technicians at my local Honda dealership — Front Range Honda, 1001 S. Academy Blvd. — are awesome. They’re efficient and friendly. The waiting area is clean and bright, with free popcorn, coffee and doughnuts, plus they have free WiFi and a flat screen TV. An oil change doesn’t even take that long — I was in and out in less than an hour. (I didn’t even get to see who got eliminated from Rachel Ray’s new cooking competition.)

Next time my oil indicator tells me the oil life is at 15 percent, I’m going to be more efficient about getting the oil changed. It’s good for my car. If your car doesn’t have an oil indicator, check the owner’s manual for recommended intervals. Every three months or 3,000 miles used to be the standard, but some manufacturers recommend as many as 7,500 miles between oil changes. Our buddies over at Car Talk recommend changing your car’s oil every 5,000 miles.

Just make sure you find a place you trust, whether it’s the dealership, a quick lube place or a local mechanic. And don’t be afraid to ask for samples of their free coffee and doughnuts.