Having spent almost two decades at GM, it’s no wonder that there is a special place in my heart for GM. So when GM unveiled the production version of the plug-in hybrid, Chevy Volt, I was anxious to see what it looked like.

The car looks ok, nothing spectacular but not bad either. The main selling feature of course is that it runs on a lithium ion battery which has a 40 mile range and recharges within eight hours on 120 volt plug and within three hours on a 240 volt outlet.

But with the car price expected to be in the “mid-30’s” and almost two years before customers can buy one, how will the plug-in Chevy Volt help GM’s revenue and marketshare growth?

Because by 2010, with offshore drilling (and hopefully a large discovery of oil), a booming economic (we hope), and falling gasoline prices (fingers crossed), will anyone care about owning a hybrid?

But I suppose time will tell. Do you see yourself in two years buying the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt for the projected cost of mid-$30K?

Me, well, I’m a bit torn to be honest. I do want to save gas money and the environment from gasoline emissions but I also want to drive beautiful vehicles. For me, the appeal of the vehicle is much more based on its appearance than on its fuel efficiency. So will I ever buy a plug-in hybrid Volt? I just don’t know…….although I do feel guilty about polluting the air so that may be a reason to look at the Volt a bit closely when it launch in late 2010 draws nearer.
So I guess there’s no hurry to make my decision, I still have oh…. about 20 months or so to weigh all my options and decided if the Volt should be parked in my garage.