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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg Automaker Hopes Battery-Powered Car Will Be A Game Changer. Critics Say It's Too Expensive. (washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/13/AR2009031303023.html)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2011_Chevrolet_Volt1.jpgKendra Marr - Washington Post (washingtonpost.com) - Mar. 13, 2009

2010 Chevrolet Volt – Rumored at $40,000 plus and includes a 40-miles AER.

I hope GM can survive to see the Volt in the publics hands. -- Ed.

General Motors frequently holds up the Chevrolet Volt as a symbol of its future and a testimony to its ingenuity when it asks Washington officials for billions of dollars in federal aid...

Their impression, according to an administration official: The Volt certainly shows promise, but it is no panacea for what ails GM in the near term...

Further, the rollout comes as rivals roll out partial-electric hybrids at a fraction of the cost...

Meanwhile, hybrid fuel-efficient cars are getting cheaper as the competition for alternative-fuel vehicles heats up. Honda's Insight LX, a traditional gas-electric hybrid that goes on sale this month, will start at $19,800. Chinese battery manufacturer BYD sells a plug-in for $22,000 and plans to enter the U.S. market in 2011.

Toyota plans to start testing a plug-in, lithium-ion version of its Prius at the end of this year. Chrysler has created several plug-in electric prototypes. And Ford has announced plans to build a family of electrified vehicles by 2012...

As GM's financial woes grow, the Volt has become a source of company pride… http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/13/AR2009031303023.html

Their impression, according to an administration official: The Volt certainly shows promise, but it is no panacea for what ails GM in the near term...

...and certainly not enough to justify more money from the public coffers.

I'm with the critics. Unless we see ridiculous spikes in the price of fuel, there's little point for the average consumer to buy one of these things when a Prius or Insight can be bought for $20-25,000. Chevy should have made a Cadillac for 10 grand more and priced it at a nice $49,000.

Well, I am glad that GM developed the Volt, but they sort of missed the wave. If it had been out last year when gasoline was $4/gallon, they would have sold a zillion of them. Alas, it'll probably sell in much lower numbers until tje next price spike.

I do hope GM survives and makes more hybrids. If GM goes under, Toyota will get lazy and stop innovating. That's just the nature of the beast.