The Nissan Leaf has won Car of the Year Japan for 2011-2012, according to the executive committee for the award announced at the Tokyo Auto Show.

The Leaf is Nissan’s first mass-produced electric car and since then they’ve moved just over 20,000 vehicles. The EV is powered by lithium ion batteries and can reach 200 kilometers for every charge. Crash test ratings for the Nissan Leaf are indicative of the many safety features – which will lower your car insurance as well as keeping you and your family safe.

“Nissan is proud to announce that its 100 percent electric Leaf car has won the Japanese Car of the Year prize. All these accolades show that zero-emission vehicles can clearly be competitive alternatives to conventional ones,” Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn said.

The Leaf also won the RJC Car of the Year award this year by the Automotive Researchers’ and Journalists’ Conference of Japan.

Reports are coming in for auto sales last month, and the GM’s plug-in hybrid – the Chevy Volt – has outsold the Nissan Leaf in monthly sales for the first time.

In October, General Motors sold 1,108 Chevy Volts to Nissan’s 849 Leafs. The Leaf has consistently beaten he Volt in sales, leading many to believe that the Volt was destined to fail. This jump is likely due to the fact that the Volt is available in far more markets than the Leaf currently. GM now has 2,200 Volt dealers across the country in 27 states.

“The Chevy Volt outsold the Nissan Leaf this month now that GM finally got some production, added more dealers and did significant advertising on the vehicle in October,” said Edmunds.com senior analyst Michelle Krebs. “Chevrolet had a significant advertising presence on the Volt and other models during the much-watched Major League Baseball playoffs and World Series, and that really helped build awareness.”

There still isn’t much in the way of options for entry level electric car buyers out there. There’s the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt and of the two it seems to be Nissan that’s stolen the hearts of electric car buyers.

August numbers are in and the Nissan Leaf sold 1,362 while the Chevy Volt sold a modest 302. That makes five months in a row that the Leaf has come out on top over the Volt. The total combined sales of the two cars in 2011 tell pretty much the same story with the Leaf winning 6,168 to 3,172.

Of course a lot of this has to do with availability and the number of cars on lots to begin with. Good news for GM then as they just reported that production has ramped up to making 150 Chevy Volts per day. So will the story change in the future or is this just the reality that the Volt will never sell as well as the Leaf?

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration recently gave the Nissan Leaf top marks for safety with a five-star rating. That makes the Leaf the first electric car to attain such a rank.

The European New Car Assessment Program found the Nissan Leaf just as praiseworthy when it gave it a five star rating in June. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety also gave the Leaf top marks.

If you can stomach it, you can watch videos of a Nissan Leaf crash test in the name of science.

With Ryan Reynolds starring in the latest superhero superbudget Hollywood film, Green Lanter, he’s going to be even more of a household name than ever; which of course makes this a perfect time for a company like Nissan to nab him as a spokesperson.

Reynolds is one of the faces of Nissan’s “Innovation for Endurance,” which promotes healthy activities and general fitness while tying it to their electric car, the Nissan Leaf. Perhaps Reynolds was tapped for the gig because he is a Leaf owner himself.

On buying himself a Nissan Leaf, Reynolds stated, “I believe it’s possible to take great leaps forward without sacrificing a way of life. For me electric vehicles, like the Nissan Leaf, are not only representative of taking back the power, but also a significant statement about conscious ways of living.”

Aside from getting health and fitness tips, Innovation for Endurance gives followers a chance to win a Nissan Leaf among other prizes like a Schwinn Prelude Road Bike or a Nikon CoolPix P500. You can get your shot by checking out the Innovation for Endurance Facebook page.

The Nissan Leaf will roll onto Canadian lots this fall and the MSRP for the first ever mass-produced completely electric car will be $38,395 for the basic model. Those looking for all the features (including solar panel spoiler) that come with the higher end SL model will be looking at $39,995.

No matter which Leaf model you choose in Canada, one thing is for sure, it will come equipped with the cold weather package which includes heated seats in front and back, heated steering wheel and outside mirrors as well as an HVAC directed to the back seat area.

Residents of Ontario and Quebec get some healthy tax rebates of $8,500 towards their Nissan Leaf purchases.

While there aren’t any official numbers yet on insurance costs of the Nissan Leaf since it isn’t out yet, based on what we know of how insurers arrive at their numbers, some inferences can be made. The good news is, it looks likely that the Leaf will be a very low cost car to insure.

The big Nissan warranty of eight years or 100,000 miles means that they are picking up the slack which should mean insurers will be able to charge less. The same warranties are offered on most Nissan vehicles, including the Nissan Versa.

Accident rates are arguably expected to be lower due to the limited 100-mile range of the Nissan Leaf. This will mean less time on the road in general and therefore less chance of getting into an accident.

If range anxiety really does dwell in the minds of most drivers, then they could reasonably be expected to ease off on the accelerator and drive a little more cautiously to conserve battery power.

What will also be interesting to see is whether insurers penalize the Leaf due to its silence. Will the lack of engine noise result in higher accident rates since people, animals and other cars will have one less sense to detect the presence of the car? What do you think, will that be a factor in Leaf insurance costs?

While some of us are still scratching our heads at how pure electric cars get a miles per gallon rating, the official EPA ratings are in for the Nissan Leaf and they have assigned it a number of 99 mpg (equivalent). This is the average that comes from the Leaf’s 106 mpg in the city and 92 on the highway.

The EPA puts the range at 73 miles and the annual power cost at $561. The range is definitely not a hard number as numerous reports have test drivers getting far more out of it with numbers coming in well above 100 miles.

The range will see a different number from a different government agency (the Federal Trade Commission), which will peg the Leaf at 96 – 110 miles. So it shows how much variance you get depending on how you do the calculations.

You may conclude speculating on the new Nissan Leaf specs. They have been release and there shouldn’t be any real surprises here beyond it being a little lighter than what was being rumoured.

The 2011 Nissan Leaf specs are as follows. A 24 kWh batterythat can be quick recharged in less than 30 minutes and a range of 100 miles. Maximum torque is 206.5 pound-feet from 0 -2,730 RPMs, roughly equal to a 2.5 liter V6 engine. The Leaf accelerates from 0 – 62 mph in 11.9 seconds and has a top speed of 89 miles per hour. It weighs in at 3,366 pounds and has a maximum available horsepower of 107.

As we and other electric car sites have noted, the top speed and acceleration numbers have both been bested by test drivers, so take them for what they are – conservative.

Since electric cars have access to their peak torque at 0 RPMs they have an advantage in the acceleration department so it’s not too surprising to hear that a Nissan Leaf can accelerate faster than a classic Mustang by going from 0 – 60 in seven seconds.

Hopefully facts like this will help electric cars win the hearts and minds of consumers that are worried about their ability to merge into highway traffic or impress their teenage girlfriends in parking lots.

Other relevant Nissan Leaf stats include its 90 mph top speed and its approximately 100-mile range. And for those of you baulking at the Mustang fact, the About Mustangs folks have the 1967 Ford Mustang taking 7.4 seconds to go from 0-60.