Why? I'll tell you.

Right now, the most efficient form of ground transportation is "hybrid electric". An engine drives an electric generator which powers electric motors to drive the wheels. We call this form of transportation "railroads".

The problem with scaling that technology down has been the development of smaller motors, better batteries, generators, etc.

The Volt is a HUGE step forward towards a more energy-independant lifestyle. Think what happens if we get the gasoline engine currently in the car replaced with a diesel. It means we can run the car on biodiesel which can be derived from FAR more numerous sources.

Oh, and BBQMan, that 33mpg claim? It's actually 37 (35 city, 40 highway) when the battery is depleted. I'm sorry to sound a bit snarky but please get your facts straight. Now, depending on how much driving you do at once, you get 35-40 miles on the battery alone. In my commuting case (29 miles each way) I would only be burning gas for 20-25 miles of my commute - less than a gallon. So, for me, it would be more like getting over 60mpg.

And that Lexus? It has the problem my Camry has - really the only problem with my car that gives me irritation - is Toyota's rapacious maintenance network. I've never seen a worse batch of "pile on"-itis - trying to get me to pay over $2000 extra in uneeded repairs when I threw a belt (claiming I needed a new water pump, for instance). My independant mechanic did the job for a couple hundred and replaced what was broken - not what MIGHT have been affected if I drove the car until it boiled over.

I haven't had that experience at Chrysler or GM dealerships.