When looking at a signal car by itself, that call may look great. However, when you put two cars side by side one will stand out. The weakness of each are more easily seen.

A white car against a white background is blends in to the background. When you put a red car or a black car against that white background it is easy to see the cars.

This week we are going to look at two of the top gas/electric hybrids; the 2011 Chevy Volt and the 2011 Toyota Prius. In a effort to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges we will be looking at the Chevy Volt’s base 4 door Hatchback and Toyota’s 4 door Hatchback.

Chevy launch the Volt in the later half of 2010. Since then it has quickly attracted shoppers. It wasn’t long before, in the public’s eye the Chevy Volt and the Toyota Prius were equals.

These two gas/electric hybrid cars are marketed to people who are concerned about their environment and want to save money on gas. So we are going to make a side by side comparison of the two.

It was back in August of 2009 when I wrote about figuring what it would cost me to drive my Dodge Caravan one mile. Since then I have come across new information. It seems that I am not the only one who realizes that the old way of measuring a cars efficiency by miles per gallon leaves out too many variables.

Since August of 2009, everyone that I have talked with have raised their eye brows. It is as if a light bulb was turned on in their brain. The old standard of miles per gallon can no longer a standard good for measuring return on money when driving. The new standard should be Cost Per Mile.

This is the day before Christmas. Many of us are looking for a fuel efficient, green car in our future. The Toyota Prius is to the 2009 what the Toyota Corolla was to the late 1960′s and 1970′s. Both cars are break through cars of their day. That is way the Toyota Corolla is still in production, with a new changes over the years.

The Toyota Prius has become the standard for automakers when it comes to gasoline/electric hybrid vehicles. The popularity and sales history makes the Toyota’s first hybrid car very popular. Having the Prius do a cameo appearance on The Closer does not hurt its’ reputation.

This weeks Auto Recon is going to take a look at a new breed of car that is not on the streets. It is expected to be out next year or in 2011. Why am I doing a recon on something that is not currently available?

The Chevy Volt is Chevy’s offering in the changing face of the automotive world. I am talking about fuel efficient, energy efficient cars. In fact the Chevy Volt is marketed for you and me as our first practical electric car.

A $40,000 price tag is not bad for cutting edge technology. However, the Toyota Prius has got its’ third generation on the street at just over $22,000 retail. I expect to see the Volt’s price go down after some of the R&D costs are paid off, with sales.

Back in the 70′s and 80′s there were jokes going around about Ford. People would take the letters of the word Ford and say make snide remarks like Fix Or Repair Daily, or Found On Road Dead. I haven’t heard any of those jokes for quite some time.

That being said, My recon team wanted me to take note that the Ford Fusion enthusiast have their own website call FordFusion.net. It seems that people who own the Ford Fusion do like and enjoy the driving experience.