This quote from your article made me spit out my coffee:
“...its fleet managers have likely calculated that over the multi-year lifetime of the Volt, the company will save money on operating costs.
Sounds great until you really spend a few minutes thinking about it. First, you will need the outlet to be GFCI, that's a given for outdoor outlets today but to be certain you should probably carry a GFCI adapter. After all, you cannot be certain that the outlet has the protection and OSHA is pretty adamant on having ground fault protection.
Second, the cord has to be protected from foot traffic as well as vehicular. Foot traffic is the main hazard, no one would ever think about running an extension cord across a driveway without properly rated covers, would they? So, if the cord runs across the ground far enough for a person to walk between the car and the outlet a cone would be necessary. Trip hazards, you know.
Third, if there is no outside outlet, the OSHA regulations really kick in, cord protection against pinching, no running through holes without bushings etc.
That doesn't even take into consideration that the cords have to be inspected for cuts or abrasions, tested to ensure that the ground wire is intact etc.
It all seems laughable when you can just run an extension cord, and it's no big deal at home. At a business however there's a big liability factor. If I'm walking down the sidewalk and trip on an extension cord and get shocked, the business if going to have a long visit from the OSHA people and their EMR is going to go up considerably. Fines are a real possibility too.