The problems I have with the Volt is initial cost, depreciation, unknown maintenance costs at this time and the fact it is not truly the environmental friendly car it's made out to be.
I believe new technology will have to be discovered to make electric cars cost effective and truly environmentally friendly.
Excluding luxury goods, I suspect that the environmental impact of most products is closely tied to both the life-cycle energy use and to the price. The Volt, as you imply, fails that test.