Electric Cars Get Top Safety Awards for in First Tests

April 26, 2011— -- The Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt, two electric vehicles the car companies hope will prove successful with environment-conscious consumers, have received top safety ratings in some of the first insurer-funded safety tests.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is funded by insurance companies to perform safety tests, gave top scores for both the Volt and the Nissan for front, side and rear-impact crashes as well as for protection in a rollover crash.

Both cars are classified as small cars, but the extra weight of the batteries needed to generate power put them nearer to mid-sized sedans, which helps improve their reliability in a crash.The extra weight of the cars, the Volt weighs 3,760 pounds and the Leaf 3,370 pounds, make them less likely to be pushed around in a crash, which significantly improves their safety rating.

The institute says this is the first time road-worthy plug-in cars have been tested. The federal government has yet to release crash test result for the two vehicles.

Savings and SafetyAfter tax incentives, the Nissan Leaf can cost as little as $20,000 and goes 100 miles on an overnight charge, enough to handle the average American roundtrip commute of 35 miles.

"All of the statistics tell us that around 70 to 75 percent of daily journeys are less than 50 miles a day," said Nissan Marketing Chief Brian Carolin. "The range that this car will give you, even if the air conditioner is on or the heater is on, it will easily get you back and forth to work on a charge."

Although they may not be for everyone, Justin McNaughton, a driver who bought a Leaf when they went to market in December, says he is happy with his purchase. "Just takes two seconds at home to operate at night and in the morning it is charged. I go about my day. It is hardly ever below 89 percent charged," said McNaughton. "When I get home, plug it in again and don't think about it."

McNaughton also said he doesn't even know the price of gas, as he hasn't bought any since December.

The Associated Press contributed to this article