Camino LS6

Those aren't the sort of changes I was talking about. How about a sudden illness that requires just a few more miles of range to visit your spouse in the hospital? How will you feel about that Spark EV, or that Leaf then? A thousand scenarios like that can , and will, occur. All current electric cars (except the Volt) are toys to one degree or another. As all-around cars they do not yet measure-up. That's the simple truth.

The points raised are valid.

It's just that the names both start with C-H-A, I think. I put it down to momentary brain farts. Rather than an actual confusion of the two cars, that is.

Simply untrue. Even the Leaf/FocusEV/SparkEVmakes sense for certain people. I posted this article on Friday from the Acela train to DC. The guy in the booth next to me and I were talking about electric cars. He's on a wait list for a Leaf. He lives in D.C. and takes the metro for most things. If he goes long distance it is normally by train or by car. He only needs a car for the occational trips out to the suburbs. His wife has a crossover for hauling the kids around. He is trading in a Jetta for the Leaf and it seems to make a lot of sense for his needs. No need for the Volt because he doesn't need the range in his second car. Even my Albert could make the Leaf work as his primary car if he wasn't so insistent that he needs AWD. We would still need something for distance runs, but for his run to work, he would have 85 miles of range left over at the end of the day. Just because it doesn't work for you doesn't mean it doesn't work for everyone. Just because it "works" for some people in their usual routine, doesn't mean it makes sense when that routine changes, or that it makes sense as an engineering direction. Only the Volt covers the bases and can claim to really be a fully-capable car.

Now if the Volt's 4-banger ran on ethanol, or CNG, or propane, or even diesel...

Oh but it does matter where the juice comes from - just saying. And the Volt? It's the only electric car that makes any sense.

Going after the shops is a terrible, counter-productive thing. The grand majority of those who might opt for such a conversion wouldn't attempt it on their own. That being the case, the EPA effectively prevents a market from developing for the fuel as well as crippling the service industry that would do the conversions. Utterly backward thinking.

Oh, and one more thing, any "solution" that doesn't make possible the conversion of our existing national fleet is no solution at all. If we want to change things, a push to convert the cars we have now is a requirement. We have done nothing to facilitate this.

The problem with electric cars isn't so much in their limitations and shortcomings, the real problem is the perception that they are panacea. They are most definitely not. Meanwhile, real, practical alternatives are being stifled by the very government that proclaims their necessity and , in some cases, subsidizes them. The EPA throws unnecessary roadblocks in the way of expanding the use of (and creating the market for) diesel, propane, CNG, and ethanol by clinging to outdated and restrictive testing requirements like some sort of sacred text. Diversity of energy supply is the answer we need, and our own "leaders" are the reason we don't already have it.

Yippee! Change the fuels, not the cars.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/toddwoody/2012/02/22/new-enzyme-could-make-cellulosic-ethanol-competitive-with-fossil-fuels/

Thrilling.

This roadblock must be removed: http://gas2.org/2009/07/31/natural-gas-conversions-could-cost-a-couple-hundred/

What we ought not to be doing is burning oil to generate electricity, and heating our houses directly with oil. Those two areas are far easier to change than the national vehicle fleet. And that fleet should be running on the widest possible range of fuels/energy . Yes, electric makes sense in some applications, but it will never be as broadly useful as gasoline has been. In fact, I hope that nothing ever becomes so universally depended upon as oil based fuels have been. That's a disaster as we should have learned by now.

I'm well aware of Tesla. As for taking the tech to the level of a 500 mile range on a 3 minute charge, there are two problems with that. Even if it is attained, no infrastructure of charging stations exists, and you begin to strain the grid when any significant number of cars move to electric. Unless a way is devised to generate the power on board the vehicle, the future of all electric cars looks quite finite.

If Cadillac doesn't make some waves and rattle a few cages, then they are sunk. Bold is called for here.

When an all-electric, 3/4 ton 4x4 pickup that charges as fast as you can fill a gas version, has the same range, and the same payload/towing ability, equal 0-60 times, and a price tag that's on a par, then we can talk. Oil is on its way out to be sure, but electric may never be what supplants it. Certainly not if the best it can do is a glorified golf cart like the Spark EV or the Leaf. Now the Volt is another story...

And in perhaps another geo-demographical testimonial, I've seen 3 fiats.... and 4 panameras around here so far. Plenty of Panameras around here, and loads of Minis. It's that second bit that might not be such good news for Fiat.

I wouldn't be too sure about an all-electric future, unless it happens via government mandate. Even then, it is a long way off. As for getting "pitchforky", I'll do that as I please. And the car itself? I wouldn't buy it if it ran on tap water and baked cookies while doing so. It's a tiny little crapbox, and painfully ugly on top of it.

Accept that they exist? OK, fine. Accept that they are all there will be to choose from? Not on your life. Say nice things about them? Not likely.

Ugly little turd - no matter what it runs on.

You beat me to it. Calling out the competition is precisely what Cadillac should be doing. Making your case and proving it beats the hell out of whining about perception.

That's very likely the question that the seller hopes you are asking yourself.

And at the other end of the scale: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/2825585833.html

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/2864077483.html