My sentiments exactly. My current car is electric, but I’d like a better one. If I were GM, I’d have electrified an existing model and had EVs for sale by now. The more revolutionary the product, the more chance for failure. Personally, I’d rather have an adequate product now than the perfect one in the dim future. Current projections make it look like I have no reasonable expectation of really buying a Volt before 2015.

One could do the above without the VoltNation part, just by accepting deposits, but: Doing the above insures that the car is first in the hands of people who have more than average interest and knowledge.  Additionally, it’s a procedure that starts up the dealer network in a way that is cooperative factory-dealer-customer.  It will create buzz, because people from VoltNation like to talk about the car. Presumably the introduction will be a brief transient phase of just a few months, but in that critical phase the people involved will want the car to be a success and inclined to have a positive outlook as the initial kinks get worked out.

It will be a long time before a car as efficient as the EV1 will be built.

I’m certainly not an expert in battery technology, but I know how to google pretty well.    I was reading a few weeks about this company NanoSphere that says they can use nanoparticles to improve the cathode for batteries (and improve fuel cells too). 

http://www.eetimes.com/news/semi/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=HX0CFVMAZ12PAQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=206801669&pgno=1 

"The first commercial product inspired by QuantumSphere’s technology will debut later this year: a battery using a cathode coated with the startup’s nanoparticles, thereby increasing its energy density 5x over alkaline cells and boosting power by 320 percent. The first commercial nonrechargeable batteries with this increased capacity will be announced by an as-yet-unnamed major U.S. battery maker in the second half of 2008. "

http://www.qsinano.com/apps_batteries.php 

I’m thinking that combining Dr. Cui’s silicon nanowire anode with these nanoparticles for the cathode could make for a helluva battery … maybe even one with 5-10 times the performance of the batteries GM is considering from A123 and LGChem.  I’ll take 3 times better any day.  I don’t know if it’s technically possible, but I’m sure somebody out there is trying to see if it is.

I’m sure there are hundreds if not thousands of hardcore scientists and engineers all over the world trying to make the next big breakthrough in lithium ion battery technology.  You just never know what they might come up with.  I bet there’s a bunch of small and large companies doing "skunk works" research and development that you won’t don’t hear about until they are about ready to sign contracts with auto manufacturers. 

I suspect we’re going to get a lot of pleasant surprises in battery research in the next 5 years.  World changing battery technology breakthroughs hopefully.  A123 and LGChem hopefully already have some scientists and engineers grinning in their labs right now because they know they can increase the range of their batteries from 40 miles up to 300+ miles … and charge them up pretty quickly. 

No more ICE "range extender" needed in cars like the Volt.  Hell, they might get rid of the ICE engine if the electric range gets to 150 miles much less 300.  150 miles might be plenty for those people who are afraid of getting stranded with no juice.  It’ll get rid of the cost of the ICE engine and other car parts, etc.  There will be "city cars" and "interstate cars" for long trips …. one of each in every household.

Here’s some stuff about battery technology I googled up a few days ago. 

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/technologies/energy_storage/index.html

It’s pretty technical but still interesting.  Lots of brainpower going into the cars of the future these days.  I’m ready for these "future cars" to get here fast.  I don’t want to be paying $6-10 bucks a gallon for gas in 2012 because the people in China and India are getting just as addicted to oil as we are now and the oil companies can’t seem to find another monster oil field like they have in Saudi Arabia.

Nice ineffectual comeback attacking people here as rednecks. The irony is most of the people on here are quite technical and educated, they follow the scientific method which leaves them skeptical to less educated people who make baseless claims and get upset when their "faith" that all problems are based on some "joke" of America’s policies gets challenged. If you can’t grasp that you need to take a break and read the posts on here rather then attacking them.

I agree with you.  I guess I wasn’t clear enough in stating that while I don’t think it’s anywhere near likely, it is possible.   The point I was trying to make is that a good part of the Volt’s success will be it’s appeal beyond the tree hugger aspect.   Incidentally,  this  seemed to be the point  Frank Weber was making at  Volt Nation.