Not to get too off topic but I also take exception to the impication that any non-white neighborhood is a high crime area. I'm the white guy on my street (I think there is one other) and my neighborhood is poor, but I've never had a problem with crime or violence.

However, I would imagine that for city-dwellers who have to park on the street (really common in Boston and NYC, I'd imagine also common in Baltimore and other older US cities) the plug-in would be sorta useless. Even if you could manage a spot right in front of your apartment, you're not going to run an extension cord across the sidewalk, up the wall, and into your window. It'd be a safety hazard if nothing else. And I agree, some bored kid is probably going to mess with it at some point.

However, for those of us who live in the ghetto but have off-street parking (my garage doesn't lock, but it does have an electrical outlet in there) it would be easier.

I'd love to see the plug-in system be an option, with far more powerful batteries that have a range of 40-50 miles in EV mode at lower (say under 35 miles per hour) speeds.