Hard to care about a hydrogen-powered Chevy Volt

How long, how loooonnnnggggg?

Larry Burns has posted an article regarding the Chevy Volt that is being displayed at the Shanghai Auto Show, for those interested. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed to find out that the new iteration of the Volt - a rumor that hyped its way through the blogosphere for the last couple of weeks - is a fuel cell vehicle.

Yes, I believe fuel cells have great potential, but if an electric-gasoline version of the Volt is 3 years away, a fuel cell Volt is even further off in the distance. Quite honestly, I care much more about what GM and all automakers are doing today, and I would have been much happier with a dumbed down version of the Volt - a vehicle that could be sold, say, next year.

Imagine GM taking on the Toyota Prius head-to-head now, instead of 3 years from now. That's what America has been waiting for - an American-made freedom fighter. An American worker-supporting, foreign oil dependency-fighting, global warming-stopping, American-made vehicle. Is that so much to ask for?

Perhaps such a vehicle wouldn't resonate particularly well with a majority of the GM faithful, but such a Volt would, however, resonate with millions of Americans that don't particularly care for GM's environmental and fuel economy efforts.