By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

According to consulting firm KPMG, nearly two-thirds of respondants to its annual Automotive Executive Survey believe that electric, range-extended electrics and hybrid-electric vehicles will not grow beyond 15 per cent of sales for at least another decade. That opinion reflects the marketplace's lukewarm response to the latest generation of electrified vehicles thanks to high transaction prices, unpredictable range, an incomplete charging infrastructure and more.

Apparently executives in Japan and China have the greatest belief in 'pure' EVs - i.e. those powered by a battery - while members from Brazil, India and Russia (the remaining BRIC nations) believe that hydrogen fuel-cell electrics will draw more customers into showrooms.

Just goes to show that despite all the goodwill and hype, EVs are still a long way from being real alternatives to fossil-fuel burning engines. And given the huge gains in power, efficiency and economy recently made in gasoline-powered engines, there's still very little push for customers to change their habits.

Let us know what you think in the comments.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Apparently so. A woman in Los Angeles believes that the highly reflective energy efficient windows in a neighbouring condo are the cause of her Toyota Prius' damaged door mirrors. The reflected sunlight, even on a partially cloudy day, somehow became focused on the plastic bits on her car, and melted them.

And then damaged another car parked nearby...

According to the local CBS affiliate, she's not alone. "Reports across the country have alleged damages brought on by concentrated sunlight reflected off of energy efficient windows," says the network. "The National Association of Home Builders is now conducting a study on the matter."

Check out the woman's claim here.

Maybe this finally gives us an excuse for fully-chroming cars! Seriously, though, 120 degrees F wouldn't seem to be enough to melt the kind of plastic used on modern Toyotas and the rest... It would need to be a 'repeat offender' for sure.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

I know, I know... we've covered Super Bowl commercials to death last week in the run-up to this year's big game. But one spot that's really impressed is music supergroup OK Go using a Chevrolet Sonic hatch to create the 'music' behind the band's latest single, Needing/Getting.

OK Go are tied to using social media and other digital tools to get their intensely choreographed videos out to their fans, but this one blows out all other previous efforts.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

In honour of this weekend's 'big game', MSN Autos Canada will have a story focusing on some of the classic celebrity tie-ups with car companies, but there are plenty of popular Super Bowl ads that have no big name stars involved. They relied on clever scripts or just the buzz surrounding a new vehicle to deliver success.

This Kia Soul ad slays me. Love the hamsters, love the Black Sheep soundtrack. Love the suggestion that every other competitor is either an old appliance or a beige box. And it's hilarious.

So what's your favourite?

Thanks to Complex.com for the video...

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

'Dry Grads' - organized graduation parties that don't allow alcohol or drugs - grew out of the efforts of keeping teens from drinking and driving. Thankfully their popularity seems to be on the rise, although there are still plenty of young drivers out there who still haven't gotten the message, and teens still account for an abnormally high percentage of impaired driving deaths in Canada.

The British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA) decided two years ago to create a contest for local high schoolers to create three-minute pro-'Dry Grad' videos shot, produced, written by and starring students. With $7,000 in prize money being split between the top-three vote-getters earmarked to offsetting schools' Dry Grad costs, there were nearly 50 entries in this year's challenge.

The winning videos from George Elliot Secondary School in Oyama, B.C. ($4,000) and the two runners-up, Hugh McRoberts Secondary School in Richmond ($2,000) and New Westminster Secondary School ($1,000), are candid, graphic and have surprisingly high production values. 

All three videos are easily viewed on the BCAA Dry Grad page.

Which one is your favourite? Do you think this is a contest other regions should embrace? Let us know in the comments.

By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos

You don’t have to be a sports fan to know the National Football League’s championship game is this Sunday. As one of the most-watched television events annually, companies looking to make a big marketing splash have coveted the game’s half-time commercial spots for years. And with sales rebounding in the U.S., automakers have jumped on Super Bowl ad bandwagon this year in a big way.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

We all know that bad math can cost you thousands when picking a car. Guess wrong on the running costs, the insurance payments, or any other variable, and it won't do your wallet any good.

That's what the old argument against hybrid vehicles has been - the fuel savings over a similarly sized gasoline-powered vehicle can't overcome the price premium required. So using the magic of the internet, Toyota, whose push towards hybrids has been long and steady, finally put the numbers together for customers to see.

The Hybridizer is easy to use and lets users choose from four different types of vehicles - gas only, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, pure electric - and compare how they would do in various driving situations. Everything from the daily commute to the weekend run to the cottage, to a 1,000-km road trip. As you might have guessed, the pair of hybrids seem to come up aces more often than not... But it's still a worthy exercise.

To entice people to give the Hybridizer a shot, Toyota will give five winners the chance to drive a Prius Plug-In Hybrid model for a week. Follow the link, follow the instructions, and explain to Toyota why you should be given the chance... Contest closes at the end of April.

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

There are plenty of sports car racing fans who denigrate the Grand-Am Rolex series for being too much like NASCAR because of the focus on driver safety and team equality. After this past weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona, though, it's hard to argue that they haven't built up an equitable series.

Despite having significantly smaller budgets than big-name teams like Target Chip Ganassi or Suntrust Racing, Michael Shank Racing used a combination of guts, driver talent and luck to win the 24 hour race on its eighth try. Both the winning #60 and the second-placed Starworks Racing entry were brand-new Ford-powered Riley cars that had barely turned a wheel in anger before pre-race qualifying on the Thursday before. Shank was doubly happy because his second entry, a much older Ford-Riley that at its best was two or three seconds a lap slower than the new-reg cars, remained on the lead lap after 24 hours and rounded out the overall podium.

The both big-dollar Ganassi entries - BMW-powered Rileys - had trouble with gearshifters and gearboxes, putting them too far behind to match the speed of the Ford-powered rivals. The heavily-favoured 'Corvette' prototypes had rough races as well - lots of unexpected teething problems that kept the big-guns in the garage early.

In GT, Porsche had a similar night, with the small Magnus Racing squad holding off bigger-budget squads from The Racers Group and Brumos Racing. Despite issues with front splitters affecting all 911 teams, the proven Porsches held off the relative newcomers from Ferarri, Audi and Dodge, along with proven winners from Chevrolet, Mazda and BMW. 

The GT field had over 40 cars entered, and promises to remain that competitive for the rest of the season.

For full results, click here. 

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Gotta love the minor differences between Canadian provinces and territories when it comes to annual vehicle inspections or certifications. Sometimes it's the smallest things that can bring nothing more than wasteful financial outlays.

Cousins of mine just moved from north of Toronto back to Fredericton right after New Years, and after a couple weeks getting their new house in order, decided it was time to switch over their driver's licences and get New Brunswick plates for their two vehicles.

The 2005 Chevrolet Malibu had no trouble passing the provincial inspection, but they were given a conditional fail on their nearly new 2011 Kia Rondo. Huh?

Turns out the dealer in Ontario had sold them on window tinting; the rear doors and cargo area were pretty dark, but it was the barely altered front door windows that the inspectors took issue with. Apparently, front-window tints are now illegal in NB after years of allowing 14 per cent tints. Not sure what inspired the provincial government to make the changes, but that's left them with a pricey bill. They have two weeks to get the tint removed and have the Kia reinspected...

I understand that they took it upon themselves to alter the vehicle beyond how it was delivered from the manufacturer... Have you ever had issues like this? Or bought an out-of-province car that needed to be alterered before you could register it? Let us know!

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Showing some pretty amazing work with stickers and fibreglass, Ford released photos of its new NASCAR Sprint Cup racer based on its upcoming Fusion. We've already drooled over the production version revealed in Detroit at the 2012 NAIAS, but the overall style has been translated very well over to the strict hardpoints required in NASCAR. 

Ford's release says something about the Fusion being the car that “helped return ‘stock car’ to NASCAR.” We're not so sure about that. Especially since the OHV 5.6-litre pushrod V8 has nothing in common with the production model's DOHC four-cylinder EcoBoost engine besides the fact that it has pistons...

Bing: Why do Sprint Cup Cars look the same?

So what's your favourite current Cup design?