NHTSA LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO CHEVY VOLT POST-CRASH FIRES

Back in May, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) put a Volt through standard side-impact crash testing, and in doing so, "the vehicle's battery was damaged and the coolant line was ruptured." The big issue? The car went up in flames multiple weeks later, seemingly as direct result. That event prompted the NHTSA to further study the safety of the batts in the period after a crash, which culminated in more tests performed just over a week ago to find out if they would prove volatile again -- simply put, they did. The group recently explained that it's "concerned that damage to the Volt's batteries as part of three tests that are explicitly designed to replicate real-world crash scenarios have resulted in fire."

Because of this development, the NHTSA (with assistance from a bunch of other letter named government departments and GM itself) has officially launched a formal investigation into the Volt to ensure that its current battery implementation isn't a safety defect. Despite the announcement, the agency notes that of all the Volts currently zipping along the streets, there has yet to be a to be a similar incident out on the open road. The NHTSA further clarified that there's not yet any reason for current owners to worry, so long as they haven't been in an accident with their vehicle. Overall, GM describes the whole investigation as "procedural" at this point, stating that both GM has been working with the NHTSA for over six months on a "broader program designed to induce battery failure after extreme situations."

ELECTRIC CAR SALES FIZZLE IN FEBRUARY

Autoblog Green has turned up the numbers for the Cheverolet Volt and Nissan Leaf sales for the month of February and it's not good. The Volt's sales declined from January's 321 to just 281. The Leaf didn't fair much better, losing 20 sales from January bringing them down to a paltry 67 for February.

Constrained supplies may have something to do with the anemic sales for both months, it could also be that people don't want to pay the price Chevy and Nissan are asking for a small car, regardless if it is all electric or not.

CHEVY CRUZE TO GET FACEBOOK READ BACK

We have known for awhile now that Chevrolet was testing integrating Facebook into its fleet via OnStar. Now, thanks to a leaked Super Bowl ad, we know that the Chevy Cruze will be the first to have the read-back feature. The ad doesn't go into specifics of how it is done however, or if there will be an associated cost.

FORD UNVEILS ELECTRIC FOCUS AT CES

Just revealed today at CES, the Focus Electric is Ford's first fuel-free, rechargeable passenger car. More importantly, it will supposedly offer a mile-per-gallon equivalent fuel economy that's better than the Chevrolet Volt and competitive with other battery electric vehicles. How?

Ford Motor Company unveiled today its all-new Focus Electric -– the company's first-ever all-electric passenger car launching later this year. The zero-CO2-emissions, gasoline-free version of Ford's all-new small car is the new flagship of the company's coming fleet of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles coming to North America and Europe by 2013.

Power for the stylish (oh, yes, it's absolutely better looking than its competitors — unless you've got a thing for eggs) Focus comes by way of a permanent magnetic electric traction motor that provides 123 HP and 181 lb/ft of torque that sucks its will to live from an LG Chem-supplied Lithium-ion battery cell pack. Although we've no idea what the fuel economy / drive range will look like as Ford's still awaiting EPA estimates, we're told the "Focus Electric will offer a mile-per-gallon equivalent better than Chevrolet Volt and competitive with other battery electric vehicles." So, basically, they're claiming it'll kick its ass.

Owners of the Focus Electric will likely recharge the car's Ford-engineered (who's LG Chem anyway?) lithium-ion battery pack at home on a daily basis, using the recommended 240-volt wall-mounted charge station that will be sold separately (for $1499 and installed by Best Buy — probably not including any additional electrical work you might need to install a 240-volt line to your garage) or the 120-volt convenience cord that comes with the vehicle. Using the 240-volt wall-mounted charger, the Focus is capable of fully recharging in three to four hours -– that's half the time of the Nissan Leaf. The Focus Electric offers something called "value charging," powered by Microsoft, to help owners in the U.S. charge their vehicles at the cheapest utility rates and thereby helping to lower the cost of ownership. [Jalopnik]

CHEVY VOLT GETS MPG STICKER

Just days after the Nissan Leaf got its official MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) sticker (99 MPGe), the much anticipated Chevy Volt has received its very own sticker. According to the EPA, the Volt will achieve 93 MPGe running on just batteries and 37 MPG on the gas engine. According to the EPA, the Volt will only be capable of cruising 35 miles on a full charge, but the overall range of 379 miles ain't too shabby for a car of this size. This was one of the last hurdles GM faced in getting the Volt into showrooms, so be on the lookout for this vehicle cruising down the roads very soon.  [Engadget]