GM's first pre-production Volt is finally a reality! I say 'finally' not because it's behind schedule or anything, it's actually a little ahead of schedule, but because they should have been producing this car ten years ago.

Now don't tell me the battery tech wasn't good enough back then, they didn't seem to have a lot of trouble making the all-electric S10 pickups with NiCad batteries. And don't tell me the batteries were a lot more expensive back then either, the economy of scale for producing a major line of plug-in production vehicles would have brought the price into an acceptable range, just like it's doing now.

The Volt recently rolled off the production line and onto the street for a test drive where a few people actually managed to get some pictures. So now GM has even released a few "official" photos to the press. It's not quite as snazzy as the concept car, but that's to be expected.

Still it's a great leap forward in automotive evolution. With the capability of a 40 mile all-electric range the average American commuter could conceivably never have to put gas in this car at all!  Well, almost never.

Most of us drive less than 40 miles a day, I think the "official" average is 33.2 miles a day. So for most people gas would only be needed for the occasional longer trip or unusually busy day of running errands.

Plus it's better for the environment, or at the very least better for your lungs.  No gas = no smog and no carbon emissions.  There will still be some carbon emissions at most power plants, but it's a whole lot less per mile driven compared to burning gas in cars.  Yes, even if you get your electricity from the worst polluting coal powered plant.  Of course there are a few of us who get most of our power from hydroelectric plants, so some of us get double gold stars for that!

Yes, you will have to plug it in to enjoy all of those savings, but I think it's well worth it. Yes, you will pay for it on your electric bill, but we are talking about 90% LESS money out of your pocket compared with gas, and we all know the cost of gas has nowhere to go but up!

So I say the smart money is on the Volt and other similar efforts currently underway at several companies. If you've got the cash I say be the first in line to get one, or you could always convert your current vehicle to a plug-in hybrid! Here's how!