Resurrecting the Electric Car

Image via WikipediaIt's alive...It's ALIVE!!

The electric car, that is.

It's almost as if every news and social network has conspired to talk about electric cars this week.

First, there was this news from San Francisco that the state of California will be investing $1 billion over 2009 and 2010 to build an electric car charging infrastructure.

Then came this article about the Chevy Volt, G.M.'s 2010 model year plug-in hybrid and purported savior.

First, regarding the Volt...I disagree with the view that the mainstream media has been taking regarding the Volt. G.M. is not so stupid to pin its hopes of comeback and profitability on a $40,000 plug-in hybrid. It's both too expensive and too radical for the mass market and I don't think the consumer environment will change a whole lot by 2010.

What the Volt is, in actuality, is a flagship model for G.M. - a harbinger of G.M.'s and the American auto industries paradigm shift to technology and features that make sense for consumers. Much of the hard work will be convincing consumers to make the jump to the enviro-friendly technology.

If the Volt, and the plug-in hybrid in general, is to catch on, it's going to happen first in California. Friday's announcement, made by three mayors and Governor Schwarzenegger, was a show of solidarity. The will of the people (of California at least), is to take environmental change head on. With the infrastructure for electric cars being built over the next few years, and the approaching release of the Tesla, Volt, and other plug-ins, the future has never looked brighter for the AC/DC automobile set.

The question remains:
Will consumers buy them?