Less than two weeks into the New Year it is interesting to see the growing momentum enjoyed by EV (Electric Vehicle) manufacturers. More businesses are interested in buying an electric car and some have stated that they are definitely going to purchase an electric vehicle at some point during 2011, while others are already investigating leasing an electric car. With petrol prices showing no signs of going down, long term, an EV will be the answer for a lot of companies.

The numbers are still small but with fuel efficiency regarded as the biggest factor influencing purchasing decisions, it is believed by many that hybrid and electric vehicles will see the lion’s share of growth over any other vehicle category in the next few years. Numbers are expected to increase in the coming years as prices start to drop and it is more than likely to take about five years for low and zero emission cars to reach a level where they are affordable enough for mainstream adoption. Once this happens it will become common place for these vehicles to covered by single driver car insurance through to any driver car insurance throughout the land.

Just six years ago fuel efficiency was forecast to become the number one consumer concern when buying a vehicle and this has seen a huge shift in the thinking of the auto industry executives. No EV manufacturer wants people running out of power on the motorway, just as they do not want to see the cities clogged up with pollution spouting vehicles which are only on the roads for 15 miles each day.

The new-found popularity of green cars will be further underlined later this month at the Detroit Auto Show, where electric, hybrid and fuel efficient vehicles are going to dominate proceedings. Toyota, Honda and Chevrolet amongst others are all expected to début cars boasting significantly improved fuel efficiency. Sports car enthusiasts will not like it, but the march of the green car is looking unstoppable.

After what at best can be described as a “challenging year” for Toyota, (particularly in the US), the Japanese firm has unveiled a whole new family of hybrid models, creating what it calls a Prius family. The new Prius V is a five-sweater family car with an increase in boot space of 50% on the current Prius model. The car will be powered by a 1.8-litre petrol engine combined with an 80bhp electric motor. It is due to go on sale this summer in the United States, it’s unlikely to make it to the UK forecourts before early next year, but it signifies the start of a major hybrid offensive by Toyota, who intend to introduce 11 new models to its hybrid line up in the next 2 years, seven of which will be brand new.