Cars that Plug In

Nope.

Wait until we see more of the spectacular fires that can erupt from Li-Ion batteries.

No way- I am an environmentalist. In my area, most of the electricity is produced by poison-spewing coal plants. My hybrid car is much cleaner and won't leave me stranded with a dead battery. Rayzer

The only hybrid that makes sense to me is the series hybrid, in which the first 50 (preferably 100) miles is electrically driven. Thereafter, a compact engine (gasoline, ethanol, LNG or diesel) kicks in to generate electricity. This way you get the benefits of very low running costs on electricity most of the time, but can still undertake longer journeys using the conventional engine. The Chevrolet Volt is such an example. I would not buy a Nissan Leaf - after ~100 miles it's flat. You can be sure that the "unexpected" will sometimes happen on a journey. Even if you are stuck 1 mile from home, what do you do? Tow truck, big delay, big costs. Bang goes your economy.

I could get intrigued with this. My regular day is 15 miles, 45 mph max. When Ketchikan is on hydro, electricity is about $0.12/kwh. But if the reservoirs run low, they have to use diesel, and the surcharge takes the total to about $0.25/kwh. Gasoline is about $3.15/gallon. I could probably strip out half the batteries and still have enough amp-hours for almost every need. A snappy little two-seater could be just the ticket.

I'm a fan of the concepts and continue to watch the progress with great anticipation, but the dirty little secret that never seems to surface in discussions is the issue of cold weather travel. The batteries become much less efficient, some needing warming, and you don't have the ICE advantage of "waste" heat to warm your toes!

I live in Northern Michigan.

Interesting point. This would give you more trouble than it would me. Where I am (right on the coast) it seldom goes below 20°F, and not all that often even below freezing.

A snappy little 2-seater is exactly what is needed. I have not seen a Chevrolet Volt in the flesh, but it looks far too luxurious to me and at $40,000, not exactly a "money saver." First year depreciation about 1/3 - $13,000 down the tubes. They have also prototyped a Cadillac version - what insanity! We need an "electric VW, Citroen 2CV or BMC Mini" or similar. The people who will buy the Volt are not people who will save money, which defeats the exercise.

You must be joking!

Why would anyone in their right mind trade a vehicle that gets around 400 miles to a tank of gas for one that runs out of power after 40 miles? Especially when there aren't likely to be any stations along your route-even in a big city--where you can recharge the joke--er, car.

And with such limited range, you wouldn't dare take any long trips outside a city. Running out of juice in the middle of nowhere is not likely to be a good sales pitch.

Anybody that buys one of these vehicles is wasting their money.

They'd be a lot better off with a bicycle if the're worried about adding "greenhouse gas" (carbon dioxide ISN'T a greenhouse gas--plants breathe it and give off oxygen, but we'll go that tag for sake of this discussion) to the atmosphere.

Until they can come up with an electric vehicle that has similar range to a gasoline powered one, electric cars are not likely going to sell well.

Who "must be joking" ?