Hybrid and fully electric vehicles have been steadily growing in popularity and 2011 is going to be the biggest year yet for greener cars. Most major manufacturers have announced plans to electrify their vehicles. Some are designing from scratch, while others are electrifying their gas powered platforms.
The Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt may be the two best known 2011 green cars, but they will have to compete with up to three dozen electric or hybrid vehicles that are expected to hit the market by 2015.
There are a diverse assortment of hybrid vehicles for the 2011 model year, including the Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid, the Lexus CT 200h, the Kia Optima Hybrid, the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, and the Infiniti M35h Hybrid.
Other greener cars include an electric version of Honda’s Fit, its popular five-passenger hatchback, which it says will have a range of 100 miles and will fully recharge in six hours. Toyota is making an electric version of its RAV 4. Toyota has also joined forces with Tesla, to provide a sleek new sedan.
Many of these cars are capable of extraordinary performance.The Tesla has breathtaking acceleration that includes a 0 to 60 mph time of 3.9 seconds. The Touareg has a top speed of 150 mph. Ford’s Fusion Hybrid delivers the fuel efficiency and added performance that define most hybrids, but unlike many of its peers, it can be driven at speeds of up to 75 km/h on electric power alone. These cars also get high mileage and offer low or no emissions.
Electric and hybrid cars are increasingly popular. The electric Tesla roadster is one of the electric cars that you will soon be able to rent from Hertz at airports and in their car-sharing program in New York City, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.
The diverse hybrid and electric car offerings for 2011 demonstrate that greener cars are becoming mainstream.
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