Despite Jay Leno’s new show itself (The Jay Leno Show) debuting to lackluster reviews, there’s been plenty of buzz in the internet world about one particular segment he’s doing: The “Green Car Challenge”. In the segment, which Leno hopes to do as much as two to three times a week, celebrities race electric cars around a track in hopes of beating previous racing celebrity’s times.

The segment is loosely inspired from a segment on British car show Top Gear called “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car”, which Leno recently competed in. In the Jay Leno Show version, however, the only car that will take to the track is the electric Ford Focus that Ford will be selling 2011, because of a sponsorship deal with Ford.

Leno has a longstanding reputation as a car guy, but the “Green Car Challenge” could shine the spotlight on his love of electric cars (he’s especially fond of historical electric cars) and of green cars in general.

Drew Barrymore was the first celebrity to take to the track, on last Saturday’s episode, and other celebrities like Tom Cruise have already expressed interest in tracking their time to Leno.

While consumers might appreciate a chance to see a wider variety of electric vehicles in motion, highlighting the cars in an entertaining way that also dispels the myth that electric cars are less functional is certainly a smart move to help Americans get comfortable with the idea of an all-electric ride—even if it’s strictly Ford focused.

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Last week we told you all about the all-electric BMW Mini trials that are taking place around the country as a means for BMW to determine if and how they’ll sell the cars in the United States, but it looks they may have some competition in the form of the an all-electric Smart Fortwo. Now the Smart Fortwo electric drive isn’t headed for U.S. production yet, but it recently wrapped up testing trials in the U.K. (similar to the MINI E trials just getting under way here) and the feedback was positive enough that Daimler, the makers of Smart cars, has confirmed that they’ll be going ahead with small series production and that the zero-emission Smart Fortwos will be available in the U.K. as early as 2010.

In addition to the small-scale launch that will take place in the U.K., the trial results were good enough for Daimler to initiate trials in Rome, Milan and Paris and begin plans for trials here in the U.S., which could help the company determine whether there’s a market for the tiny, city-specific vehicles here in America and also garner more feedback for the development of future models. Click here to read more

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