The Chevy Volt

If you're driving the normal 15,000-20,000 miles a year maybe. I've had mine two years and am right at 59,000 miles. In another three or four years it'll be time for a new one.

 

That might be a problem for a "pure" electric that runs on nothing but a battery. But the Volt also has a gasoline engine. If you go beyond the battery's range, your only problem would be finding a gas station supplied with gasoline. Most of them are.

On a different angle, it seems that those who worry about energy supplies are sending us mixed signals. Around here, in the name of conservation the electric utilities are under orders to reduce their sales by several percent over the next several years. To accomplish this, Allegheny Power is running commercials reminding viewers to turn out the lights. I'm not kidding. Meanwhile, however, environmentalists are promoting concepts like the Volt, which would gobble several kilowatt-hours every night. So which is it? Are we supposed to use less electricity, or more?