Will the Volt Unplug GM?

After I promised an "Electric Car Buyer's Guide" in a previous post, I realized thatAutobloggreenhas already done that with an excellent web site. I was also knocked out of my technogeeklust fog by a comment from Kevin (whose thoughtfulUrban Indyblog I read religiously).



"Electric cars are neat. However, one of my goals is to be able to live in this city without needing to own a car at all. I've just got this nagging feeling that if we can figure out electric cars at a large scale, we're still going to build our landscapes around the car, instead of humans. Car-based planning is unattractive, no matter how you are powering the car. Suburbs age very rapidly. Congestion will still be a problem, and as they say, you can't build your way out of it with wider (or more) roads."



Most of the electrics on the market now areNeighborhood Electric Vehiclesthat are not legal at highway speeds and not allowed at all in some jurisdictions. TheTeslais in production, but good luck getting one even if you have the $100K in hand.



The most interesting article I ran across researching a potential practical electric car buyers guide is Jonathan Rauch's riveting description of the monumental effort General Motors is mounting to deliver theChevy Voltelectric vehicle to showrooms in 2010. Don't missElectro-Shock Therapy: GM Bets Everything on the Plug-in Carby Jonathan Rauch in the July-August issue ofThe Atlantic.