The way utilities now meet demand spikes is to attach an extra natural-gas-fired generator or two to the grid and let it sit idle for most of the year.
The Volt can go 40 miles on a single charge (about a average day's miles for the typical American), and it also has a gas-powered generator that gives it the ability to drive 300 more miles, Chevrolet says.
While gas-fired power plants are popping up like dandelions across America, just one coal-fired generator was brought on line in the first half of 2012, the EIA reports.
Rob Peterson and Britta Gross of GM, both integral to the Volt program, dare me to guess when the car switches from battery-only to using the gas engine as a generator, and I totally miss it.