The Volt is an electric vehicle that will recharge on a normal 110-volt outlet and have a range of 40 miles on battery power and an impressive 640-mile maximum when the one-liter gasoline backup engine kicks in.

Vice chairman and red-blooded sports car lover Bob Lutz was the force behind the striking (and Camaro-resembling) Volt, which he says wasn't an easy sell in the boardroom. "I have never been more excited about a car in my entire career than the Volt," he told me.

The Volt is built on GM's new E-Flex platform, which uses electricity to drive the wheels and can accommodate different types of propulsion systems--gas, ethanol, bio-diesel, or hydrogen. However, it relies on a large lithium-ion battery, which isn't likely to be ready and affordable for a mass-market car before 2010 to 2012. I hope GM remains focused on such long-range--and costly--technology; the world is watching.