The Fit EV was initially revealed last year at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, along with the information that US customers will be able to lease the 2013-model-year car, which has a range of about 76 miles on electric power, beginning in the summer of 2012.

Sadly, Honda has no plans to ever offer the car for sale to the general public.

Sometime later this year, the city of Torrance will also be receiving a Honda plug-in hybrid for demonstration purposes, though that will likely be a mid-size sedan, since that’s the platform the automaker’s existing plug-in hybrid drivetrain has been engineered to fit.

Enjoy.

This recall involves the recall of 310,773 Honda Pilot SUVs from model year 2009 through 2011, because of a defect in the safety belts. Specifically, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the stitching that holds the front lap belts together may be either incomplete or missing. Either of these things could cause the belt to become detached, which could be extraordinarily dangerous if the vehicle was to crash.

The recall will begin around the 3rd of October, and will involve dealer-performed inspection of the seat belts in question, and replacing them if necessary.

Owners of Honda Pilots from the affected model years can call either the NHTSA vehicle safety hotline at (888) 327-4236 or Honda at (800) 999-1009.

Apparently other people like the 2011 Honda Fit as well, because Car and Driver named it one of the ten best cars of the year.

Here’s their video intro:

A few weeks ago, on May 9th, representatives of those automakers sent a letter to the chair of California’s Senate Transportation and Housing committee, Mark DeSaulnier, which stated, in part, “It is… unfortunate that there is an effort underway yet again to extend the yellow sticker program, and that legislation to do so is being sought. We do not support any further extensions of the yellow sticker program.”

The point of the letter isn’t that Ford, Honda, et al, believe such incentives are bad, merely that the original class of hybrids are no longer in need of such an incentive. As the letter explains, “Continued extensions of the program do not serve to incentivize sales of hybrid vehicles as the cap on yellow stickers was reached approximately seven years ago, shortly after the program’s inception.” The letter also adds that, the extension of such privileges to July 1st was granted “…without any public airing of the issue during two years of debate over the future HOV program.”

Currently, Ford and Honda are tied as the second-biggest hybrid car sellers, behind the reigning Toyota. All three companies, along with GM, Nissan, and others, have plug-in and alternative-fuel cars in their present or future product lines, and those vehicles are eligible for white stickers (solo EV drivers) and/or green ones (solo plug-in hybrid drivers).

Leland Yee, the California Senator who authored the bill granting the HOV extension until July 1st, said at the time that the goal of doing so was to give hybrid owners in his state time to purchase the electric and plug-in vehicles coming to market, but now those cars have arrived. The all-electric Nissan LEAF and the plug-in hybrid Toyota Prius due in 2012 both qualify, and while the 2011 Chevrolet Volt does not, the 2012 Volt should.

The letter in questions was signed by officials from Ford and Honda, as well as representatives of the California Natural Gas Vehicle Association, Clean Energy Fuels, and Plug-In America.

While it’s common to evaluate cars based on their cost, and hybrids and diesels do tend to cost more than gas-powered cars, even when fuel savings are taken into account, when value retention (higher resale value) is taken into account, these alternative-fueled vehicles come out on top.

The researchers at Carnegie Mellon compared the Volkswagen Jetta TDI with the Jetta 5C and 4C, the Toyota Prius with the gasoline-powered Toyota Camry,the Honda Civic Hybrid and standard versions, and the Mercedes-Benz E320 diesel with the E350 (gas powered). The Jetta TDI and Toyota Prius were the clear winners in the comparison study, retaining the greatest portion of their original purchase prices.

Data for the resale value was based on auction prices provided by Manheim Auctions, and was based on vehicles sold after three years of ownership. The project was underwritten by the diesel technology firm Bosch, and conducted by members of CMU’s Tepper School of Business. It was clear that Bosch wanted to prove that clean diesel is a wise choice for consumers, but the study confirmed that hybrids provide a similar resale benefit, as well. This was especially evident based on data from the summer of 2008 when gas prices were at their highest, but still evident, though less so, when fuel prices dropped in 2009.

This year, prices for both diesel and gasoline fuel are rising again, and are predicted to continue creeping upward over the next few years. This trend lends credence to the economic argument for fuel efficiency as a desirable feature that will help a car retain its future resale value.

Earlier today, the auto safety regulation organization said that it had agreed to investigate a complaint that came out of a fatal crash in July, 2005.

In that incident, a motorist operating a 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid said that she was driving over the “rumble strips” on the side of a freeway, when she attempted to brake. However, instead of her car slowing down, she said, it sped up uncontrollably and crossed into the oncoming lane. The accident that resulted left her passenger dead, the driver herself disabled, and also injured the occupants of two other vehicles, according to the NHTSA website.

The agency says that it will investigate the driver’s claim before any more formal probe is begun.

The driver in question used NSTSA’s own crash database to demonstrate that there were twenty-two other complaints from other drivers or owners about incidents with Honda Accord and Civic hybrids that she felt were similar to her own. In her petition, she said those other incidents were also related to inadequate braking performance on uneven road surfaces.

Honda says it’s too early to comment on any specific allegations, but did state that the braking system in all of its hybrid systems is the same one found in gas-powered Hondas.

In fact, according to a report from Kicking Tires, five of this year’s top ten best selling models are seeing lower sales numbers this year than they did in 2009, though until August began only one of them was seeing lower numbers.

So what are the top sales for August? Here’s an image that shows the top sales, in order, as well as the degree of change.

August Top Sales | Source: Kicking Tires | Click to Enlarge