I hope things change - that picture is saddening... :( Look at all the ICE vehicles and the one white isolated Leaf. If the charging stations are free, people will start to want to get more EVs and use them. But they won't be drawn into the EV fold if the charging is $2.50/hr with one hour minimum, rounded up to the next hour.

What really stinks is GM cuts the Chevy Dealer off of even *selling* Volts if they don't fully participate. You can't sell them if you can't service them - even if a shop 10 miles away can service the Volt. That's not smart for trying to ramp up Volt sales.

Makes perfect sense. That's how it should have been done. Why can't a volume-dealer be the holder of such golden tools and charge shops for renting it each time it will be *rarely* used?

The tool doesn't even promise to be used once in a year. It is only for removal of batteries going back to the factory under warranty conditions. Will the tool be used at-all in some dealerships? Probably not. Ship the tool when warranty work is needed, require the tool to be returned either to GM or a regional center. Make use of 30-50 tools across the USA rather than 2000+ of them.

Shops selling 2 or 3 Volts a year don't want to invest far more in a tool than the profit potential of selling those 2-3 Volts.

I doubt your 60 mpg at 65 mph claim is true.

And, when you buy a Prius, most of the money goes to Japan since it is 100% imported. Only "some" of the Volt money goes to foreign countries. CMax is highest in North American content.

I think initial EVs had to be upscaled to allow for features to later be removed. Now, we see Nissan with a "stripped down" cheaper USA-made Leaf for 2013 and a sustained MSRP for Volt into 2013 with hopes of lower into 2014 now that they have higher sales.

Out of pocket, my Volt was $25K. That was after using a GM Card and other incentives - but I say that's a very fair price for the amount of technology that is in the car. Ramp up scale and prices will drop. This is happening now and soon you will see $30K EREVs and $25K BEVs.

Biggest problem of all is - people are afraid of change.

Do you know about base load and demand? About EV drivers buying Solar PV arrays at home to help offset their additional usage? About their conservation steps to cut electrical use before buying an EV?

Coal coal coal - it's all you guys think of.