Last Monday, GM's Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for the Volt, and Dave Barthmuss, GM's communications director, invited a dozen Plug In America members to Dodger Stadium for what turned out to be an exciting test drive of the Chevy Volt. Coming hard on the heels of our Nissan trip, it's clear the leading car makers bringing back plug-in cars are serious about soliciting input from the people who have the most experience driving EVs. That's a good sign.

We started off with a thorough explanation of the car including the charge port and 120Volt cord set with the standard three pronged plug. Given that the battery pack holds 16 kWh, but only 8 kWh will be usable (this is to protect the longevity of the pack), Level one charging on a 120V should suffice for most folks. According to Dave Barthmus, Level two charging (240V) will be available, but it's not been decided whether this will come standard, or be an option.

As for the price, Barthmus said that GM will announce this crucial piece of information about a month prior to the release of the Volt this fall. I hinted to them that they needed to be at least as low as $35K-$37K to be competitive, and lower would be better.

My first impression of the car was how nice it looked. When I first saw the body at Chris Paine'shouse during our Plug In America fundraiser 18 months ago, it was surrounded by a crowd of people and nose to nose to a Tesla Roadster. Here, however, I was able to get a good look, and I liked what I saw. Not too conservative and not too wild, not too big and not too small, a car most people would feel comfortable driving.

Everyone gathered around to watch as he opened the rear hatch and slid the instrument in, easily closing the door with room to spare. He then got in the passenger side with the neck of the bass between him and the driver, plenty of room!

I'm excited we have such good choices for plug-in cars coming so soon. Whether you get a Leaf or a Volt, you'll be happy. Both are great cars. I don't see a lot of competition between the two since most people I talk to want either a pure electric, or they want the extended range. The people who should be worried are those who sell the Prius or Civic hybrid. As long as those cars remain plug-less, the Leaf and the Volt will eat them for lunch.

(Like what you read? Visit my blog EVs & Energy.)