Speaking of Electric Vehicles ...

Update

June 9, 2012: The verdict is in (again): it makes little sense to buy a hybrid based on an LA Times analysis. They are less fun to drive; significantly slower; less storage space. Counter-intuitive: the hybrid Prius is noisier than its all-gasoline counterpart, the Camry. At $4.00/gallon it takes about five years to start realizing savings. If you bother to read the article, note one glaring omission: if batteries wear out, and if so, when they need to be replaced and at what cost? As far as I know, all batteries eventually need to be replaced.

February 28, 2011: "Chevrolet Volt makes little economic sense," Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports offered a harsh initial review of the Chevrolet Volt, questioning whether General Motors Co.'s flagship vehicle makes economic "sense."The extended-range plug-in electric vehicle is on the cover of the April issue — the influential magazine's annual survey of vehicles — but the GM vehicle comes in for criticism.

"When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn't really make a lot of sense. The Volt isn't particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it's not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy," said David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports auto testing center at a meeting with reporters here. "This is going to be a tough sell to the average consumer." 

And that's only the beginning. It gets worse.

By the way, someone recently wrote in asking about batteries in electric vehicles and if severe weather (heat or cold) affected them. Consumer Reports pretty much put that question to rest: severe cold does affect the battery. Big time. I would assume that severe weather will also shorten the life of these $7,000 batteries. Re-sale value at three years?  Hmmm.

Original Posting

.... has anyone seen any television commercials for the two coal-powered automobiles, the Chevrolet Volt or the Nissan Leaf?

Seriously.

It may just be me, watching the wrong channels, but I have not seen a television commercial for the Chevrolet Volt or the Nissan Leaf.

Some might say they are selling so well that advertising is not necessary, but if that were true, we would not see so many Apple iPad commercials either.

Just saying.

[Nissan sold 87 Leaves in January, 2011; up from 19 in December.
Chevrolet has delivered 647 Volts through January. The Volt was launched in November. Link here. The Prius, incidentally, dropped off the top 10 list in January, 2011.]

[As a reminder, for current EV's to be economical, oil has to cost between $174 and $250/bbl based on a year-long study by unbiased academic team.]