It looks like GM is planning to roll out a plug-in hybrid vehicle within the next three years.
GM is designing the highly-anticipated Volt to run 40 miles on battery power alone, reducing or even eliminating the need for drivers to fuel up an on-board gasoline-powered engine provided as a backup power source.
I’ve said before (but probably not here on the blog) that if I’m going to start making car payments again anytime soon, I want a car that I can use to do my daily driving entirely from batteries, since I don’t see PEM fuel cells being ready for prime time anytime soon.
40 miles would probably do it, unless there were lots of errands to run. (One problem with the town I live in is that nothing is located conveniently next to anything else!)
Toyota (if they can extend the range of their plug-in Prius using modern battery technology) may still beat them to the punch, but it’s nice to see GM figuring out that maybe – just maybe – giant SUVs are not the way of the future!