[Matt Herring]

I don't think gas prices will kill any of the planned PHEV or EV's. Alot of people travel alot of miles and despite dropping gas prices we are still in a severe financial crisis. Gas prices are nothing compared to Wall St./Main St. and what has happened to the average Joe over the past 18 months. If gas was $1/gal today people would still be in the same situation they are now financially...maybe they would just have an extra $100-200 in their pocket each month. Ask anyone that owns a 401k and planned on retiring in the next 3-5 years. The extra $1/gal they are paying a month is nothing compared to the 30-50% they lost with investments. If it's time to get a new car the PHEV's and EV's are now part of the decision process for a potential car buyer...it's great to have that option. The only thing that will kill the Volt...IS GM!

I saw my first Volt commercial on the tube this weekend...got me excited for the car but anyone not knowing you actually plug it in a standard outlet might not understand just how beneficial it is. They did explain the 40 miles on a single charge well but said nothing about how to charge it. The majority of the commercial was like a normal car ad showing how "cool" the car looked instead of the actual benefits of the car. After all, this is groundbreaking technology...shouldn't they focus on what the car actually does? IMO I think they are trying to play up the look of the car to make it more appealing vs. the prius and it's shape.

Personally, I have no interest in the Volt vs. the PHEV Prius. Toyota has clearly demonstrated the ability to produce a high-quality, reasonably priced EV and for my money I'll be picking up a Toyota Prius PHEV in 2010.