The Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt debuted a few years ago and were among the first to hit the market. Now analysts are looking at the number sold and feel that they are solid. The Volt outsold the Leaf 23,461 to 9,819 for 2012.

Honda will be the first to qualify for the Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle 20 (SULEV 20) standard under California Air Resource Board (CARB) regulations. The Accord plug-in hybrid emits no more than 20 milligrams of smog-forming emissions (must be 20 or below to meet standard) for each mile driven. Honda claims the plug-in hybrid gets 124 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) in the city and 105 MPGe on the highway while driving on electric power only. Once the battery has been depleted, the vehicle switches to hybrid mode and achieves 47 mpg city and 46 highway.

It is important to educate first-responders about recognizing these vehicles. While most would recognize that a Chevy Volt is electric if it was involved in a crash; some might not know if a Ford Focus is conventional gasoline or electric. Strategies are discussed at Tinyurl.com/FirstResponderAid.