PG reader Charles Johnson weighs in on the electric-only range of the Volt:

I’m sure GM research has put a lot more thought into the public’s buying mood than I have, but you gotta wonder about whether this Chevy Volt deal is more a PR push than anything else.
40 miles on a single charge will take care of most daily driving needs? Well, I guess 40 miles per day comes out somewhere near 12,000 per year, but I haven’t put 5,000 miles per year on a car in a decade.
Still, I can’t see the appeal: I make about a half-dozen trips a year for business or vacation that take me 250 miles round-trip. Three charges each way? Are you kidding me? Plus with the hassle of airports these days, any trip under 300 miles one way is almost a no-brainer to drive, especially for a multi-passenger trip.
Can’t see the Volt as much more than a second car, if that — which kinda makes it a luxury item for a lot of folks, doesn’t it? This one looks tough.

[UPDATE: Yes, the Volt is a hybrid, so the non-green fossil-fueled engine kicks in after a while. I should have made clear that the context was its pure-green capabilities.]