Take the Publicity and Run With It, Chevy

It’s the most effective endorsement for electric vehicles yet, tailored perfectly for the first adopters of the electric vehicle, those wealthy urban dwellers with smallish commutes; Chevrolet had Jay Leno speak about his usage of the Chevrolet Volt from an event near the Los Angeles auto show!

Leno claims to have lasted a full year without filling up his Volt, as he bought the car last December and still has half a tank of gas left from the original fill, compliments of Chevy. The Volt can go 40 miles without needing a recharge, so for people within that round trip-mileage for their daily commute, a Volt seems a viable option for getting you around if you hate petrol. If an easy-charging electric vehicle is good enough for a ubiquitous late night talk host with a garage full of cars and a 35 mile all in daily drive, it’s good enough for you, rich man!

The price of the Volt is still prohibitive for middle class purchasers ($40k), but that price will begin to drop once supply and demand forces kick in. Now if we can start working to reduce everyone’s total commute to less than 40 miles, we’d really be on to something.