The Chevrolet Volt concept car was unveiled at the January 2007 NAIAS during the George W. Bush administration.

Do pay attention. The Volt keeps going when its battery is depleted, its EPA total range is 379 miles. TDI is a better long-distance car, but the Volt burns no gasoline at all if your normal commute is under ~35 miles.

I doubt it. The Tesla Roadster Sport has a 215 kW (288 hp) motor, the Model S Sport may be similar. Two 5 second runs is 215000 * 10 Joules of energy, which is 0.6 kW·h. Even if its powertrain has substantial efficiency losses at max power there's a lot more energy in the battery pack, which in the Model S will range…

Unless she's an auto journalist, she tested the 2011 Impreza.

What hit? Hyundai and Kia don't sell AWD cars. Subaru keeps hoping to grow out of its AWD car niches, but except for the Forester which is still the highest-rated compact SUV (and I think is doing OK against the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sorrento), it hasn't happened. This Impreza probably won't do it either, but other…

You're confused. There are virtually no BMW hybrids on US roads. BMW has only sold 338 Hybrid 7s and 283 of the massively irrelevant X6 hybrid variant (through August 2011).

Jalopnik and Ray Wert are doing their usual slanted reporting on this frightening "weird, new technology". September's sales were anemic but:

The Nissan Leaf is a useless toy for the majority of American Households

Specifically, at the factory showing of the beta Model S this weekend Musk "also announced Tesla would be introducing a faster Model S that goes from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds, shaving more than a second off current acceleration." That's faster than an Aston Martin Rapide or Panamera 4S.

Is Google + physics + math so hard for "MechEngineer"? Consider a monster car stereo pumping out a deafening 500 Watts, it's drawing say 1 kW. That's just 1.3 horsepower. Electric motors are hella efficient but moving a 3,781 lb Volt takes a lot more power.

The R8 e-tron and SLS E-Cell are both slower 0-60, less range, and much more expensive than the 3-year old Tesla Roadster which will end production soon. They're luxo GTs and it's a cramped electric Lotus, but I'm not sure why anyone would be more excited by German promises than American achievement.

The Rimac Concept_One has almost twice as big a battery pack as the Tesla Roadster and four times as many motors, so the performance numbers are feasible. On the other hand, the Audi R8 e-tron has 4 motors but is only rated at 308 hp and 0-60 mph in 4.8 s, slower than the Roadster.

Definitely. Porsche's light changes and the new hood line managed to match VW. It would be so cool to put a VW badge and the VW's bumper and front spoiler on your 991!

For sure the F355 is a beautiful car (I own three! — Hot Wheels 1:64, Hot Wheels 1:18, and the Barbie RC model), but from that front angle, and only from that angle, the Lotus M100 Elan looks even nicer. (dave_7's Flickr photo).

Conspicuous consumption is also millions of people driving the same commute day after day as a single passenger in a 3000+ lb vehicle. Most households have more than one car.

You beat me to it. While Audi, BMW, Opel, and VW show their concepts of a future electric commuter car, Renault will supposedly put one on sale by the end of 2011.

If you crouch low, the new Beetle looks quite similar to the new Porsche from the front. I bet VW tuners will make the resemblance explicit.

It suits the narrow mindset of Jalopnik editors to stick their fingers in their ears, their heads in the sand, and pretend that the electrification of the automobile isn't happening and that Frankfurt isn't a big flashing sign pointing in that direction. Were they not pandering to, and egged on by, gasoline…

What would you like Audi to do instead? Make trains? Go into the moving sidewalk business? Sell electric bicycles? (Actually Smart is showing an electric bike.) GM is trying new ideas like the EN-V mobile Segway-pod that can maneuver in crowds and cart your kids to school and then head home unattended, and they just…

While the Germans make concepts, something like it is nearing actual sale. The Renault Twizy "will go on sale in Europe at the end of 2011 with a price tag beginning at €6,990". The big difference is the Twizy isn't fully enclosed and its top speed is only 50 mph.