There is a surprising number of product plans for all-electric cars floating around in the press conferences at the Detroit auto show. Ford, Toyota, and Chrysler have all announced production intent of electric vehicles that offer around 100-150 miles range. But some remarks from GM leave me wondering if they’re drawing a line in the sand toward all-electric cars.

During Sunday’s press conference, Bob Lutz, GM’s vice president for product development, stated that electricity was the best way to displace petroleum from vehicle use. (A few years back, GM was a chief proponent that the answer was ethanol and biofuels, solutions that are all but absent now.) GM’s electric-drive vehicles project to use battery power for the first 40 miles, and then use an engine to power the electric motors once the charge runs out. As both Chrysler and GM proclaimed, 40 miles is a magic number, since 75% of all drivers have a commute shorter than that.

Lutz cited “range anxiety,” the feeling of worry you might have as your all-electric car’s batteries run low, as a “problem” with all-electric cars. Indeed, he related an example of running out of charge while riding an electric motorcycle. I don’t doubt that this feeling exists: we had it with our Honda Civic CNG (range = about 180 miles.) Having that extra engine on board dramatically enhances versatility; imagine that you could actually go on vacation with the same car with which you commute!

Still, I wonder. Perception as being a technology leader is important in this market; GM is sore about Toyota’s reputation as being a leader in hybrid technology. It doesn’t help that GM actually had an all-electric car on the market in the 1990s, the storied EV1. Although the Volt may be first to market with its technology, similar drive trains from other companies are hot on its footsteps. Can GM survive the perception battle without an all-electric vehicle?

--Tom Mutchler

See Consumer Reports' coverage of the 2009 Detroit auto show.