Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Lithium Drive: AutoBlogGreen: Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf earn Top Safety Picks in first IIHS electric vehicle crash tests tnr.v, czx.v, alk.ax, lmr.v, tsla, rm.v, nup.ax, srz.ax, usa.ax, jnn.v, abn.v, res, mcp, avl.to, quc.v, cee.v, sqm, fmc, roc, li.v, wlc.v, clq.v, lit, nsany, byddf, gm, dai, rno.pa, hev, aone, vlnc

  

  We have very important news in Electric Cars space today: properly made Electric Cars are safe and, basically, "normal" - like all other cars, but only better. You do not have to sacrifice any safety, comfort or convenience in order not to be slave any more of the Gas stations and Oil companies. This kind of news will catch headlines and, hopefully, volumes in EV sales will be picking up - now people are buying everything GM and Nissan can produce.



"We are always searching for catalyst for particular investment idea. We have our big picture Macro Catalyst in action now with S&P putting US on Negative outlook and Bill Gross selling all US Treasuries. Powerful Macro trend of Peak Oil multiplied by Inflation will make Electric Cars the reality in the nearest future. Gas prices here will be the very good incentive for keeping the topic in the headlines.


  We have an industry catalyst in Electric Cars now: China has announced that Electric cars will be strategic industry in its 12th Five Year Plan, IMF talks about Peak Oil and higher Oil prices and new Electric Cars are hitting the roads and showrooms."


chevy volt crash test
Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf Crash Tests – Click above for high-res image gallery

Volvo may be working to make sure its C30 Electric offers a completely safe ride when it arrives later this year, but both Chevrolet and Nissan can already say they have earned the highest safety ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In IIHS' first mainstream plug-in vehicle tests – which are done the same way as tests for vehicles with standard powertrains – both the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and the 2011 Nissan Leaf have were named "Good" for their front, side, rear, and rollover crash protection. IIHS said in a statement that, "The milestone demonstrates that automakers are using the same safety engineering in new electric cars as they do in gasoline-powered vehicles." Who's surprised about that?

The two plug-in pioneers also won the Top Safety Pick title, thanks to standard electronic stability control. So far in 2011, IIHS has named 80 cars as Top Safety Picks, so it's not like this is a refined category. The 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Honda Insight were named Top Safety Picks in late 2009. That said, IIHS has taken issue with some plug-in electric vehicles in the past, mostly the not-quite-a-car NEVs, especially small vehicles like the Gem e2 or the Wheego Whip. Read all of the IIHS' words on the subject in the press release after the jump."
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