At their current level gas prices are not hurting me too bad so financially there is little motivation to go EV. I picked $25,000 cause an EV would be a second or third vehicle due to the limited range. I guess one could always rent a car for longer trips but having already been spoiled I'd want a longer range fuel burner around, even if it only got driven a few times a year.

Something like the Volt would be ideal for me cause the daily drive could be all EV and yet the same car could be used for longer trips. If you had a Volt you wouldn't need a second car (or a rental) so an extended range EV like the Volt would be more, perhaps $30-35, 000.

Two scenarios.

For the general public that doesn't consider itself 'high end' car buyers $30000 is a psychological barrier IMO. Most drivers are looking for a good reliable $20000 vehicle.

There are still a lot of buyers though that expect to pay $25000-$35000 for a 'nice' vehicle. This is the target demographic I think.

The PHEVs though simply by design must be targetted to an 'aware' 'upscale' 'suburban' demographic. It has to appeal to those who want to do something extraordinarily proactive and then can implement that choice, meaning simply that they have the option to use the plugin technology. A well-to-do city dweller may have two of the three needed attributes but without the possibility to plugin the vehicle it's a useless choice.

Lifetime fuel usage: 2.1 GPC ( 1.99 recent )

It would have to be a "real" car, with comfortable seats, air conditioning, stereo, etc., and big enough to feel safe. And, it would have to give a range enough for a fairly long commute, plus a shopping trip at lunch time, plus a side trip in the evening, and then to a restaurant and back. 200 miles might not be enough some days.

Because there are some days when the range is not enough, any pure electric car would have to be one of two or more vehicles. We need to have a vehicle that is capable of long trips, with rapid refueling at commonly available stops during the day. Pure electrics can't do that, at least not yet. We have to go 300+ miles in one day often enough that renting vehicles for those days really doesn't make sense.

A plug-in hybrid makes a lot more sense for the next decade or so. Give me a reasonable commute range on electric-only, and save the small gas motor for the long trips.

When someone develops portable electricity storage cells that can be recharged in a few minutes, and they start adding electricity-pumps beside the gas-pumps at refueling stations, then pure electric will become feasible as an only car. I expect that to begin happening in about another decade, if the government pushes it.