Limited geographic availability? At the LA Auto Show GM will release its sale’s plans for the Chevy Volt , and it appears the Volt will not be available in all GM markets. Of course, that shouldn’t really come as a surprise, since not all GM dealerships will be initially trained to service the …

Time to bring production to America? Because of yen-dollar rates, it is becoming much more costly for Toyota to export vehicles from Japan to the US. As a result, Toyota is close to a decision on building the Toyota Prius in the U.S., company spokesman Irv Miller said on Toyota’s monthly sales call . Likewise, Miller noted that Prius supplies at …

Nissan’s first next-gen hybrid? Nissan has announced that it will launch a new lithium-powered hybrid in 2011. Other than its 2011 launch date, Nissan is providing few details on the 2012 Infiniti M35 hybrid.

Ford’s Car of the Year? Three hybrid cars have been picked as candidates for the 2010 North American Car of the Year. The Toyota Prius , the Honda Insight and the Ford Fusion hybrid are among the 15 contenders picked by automotive journalists from the US and Canada. The winner will be picked at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show.

Another series hybrid Suzuki is bringing the Swift plug-in hybrid to the Tokyo Auto Show. Not a lot of details have been released so far, other than the fact that the Swift plug-in hybrid is a lithium-powered series hybrid.

Using the wrong oil? Over the years I’ve heard many a story about how the wrong oil, the wrong tire pressure, the wrong tires themselves, or the wrong ethanol blended gasoline caused serious drops in fuel economy for some hybrid owners. What issues or products have killed your hybrid’s fuel

The Freed minivan OK, by American standards, the Honda Freed Minivan isn’t really a minivan, but maybe American standards are in need of changing. Anyway, Honda is now committed to offering the Freed, built on the same platform as the Fit, in a hybrid version around 2011 according to reports , with an EV version to

The CT hybrid? Lexus has released this interesting sketch of what could potentially be its next hybrid vehicle, the CT. Thus far, Toyota has patented the names CT200h, CT300h, and CT400h, so it seems clear a hybrid version of the CT is inevitable. Other reports have suggested the CT will be a hybrid-only vehicle. Details should be finalized by the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Small and safe The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has awarded both the new Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight Top Safety Pick Awards. Small, safe and fuel efficient. Do you really need that huge guzzler to feel safe?

So hybrid incentives don’t work? The Toyota Prius has now been the top selling vehicle in Japan for 3 months, thanks to government incentives to buy hybrid cars . Wouldn’t it be wonderful if an American-made hybrid was the top selling vehicle in the US, with or without tax incentives? If …

High mileage per gallon and a price well below $18k, the new 2010 Honda Insight is aimed at the masses, with high affordability and the known efficiency of Honda Hybrids. With a 63.4 mile per gallon efficiency, Honda believes that real-world mileage will be much better than the official EPA rating of 40-

Autopia just posted more news about to future BMW’s Electric Mini, with no Tail Pipe! Details are scarce, but Autocar says the Mini EV will use a lithium-ion battery, have a range of 100 to 135 miles and a 0-to-60 time of less than 9 seconds. Last we heard, BMW planned to build just 500 electric Minis and bring them all to California to help meet the Golden State’s zero-emissions vehicle mandate that requires…