The Chevy Volt makes no sense at all to me. I can sneeze and do 48 miles, not much mileage at all to justify an electric. A true hybrid is a much better alternative. My daughter drives an Altima Hybrid which gets 700 miles to the tank, and has quick all-around acceleration that is surprising, unlike the Prius which is slower. (The Altima uses Prius hybrid technology but with a Nissan powerplant.) Electric cars are still not ready for prime time, too many negative issues to deal with. Regular hybrids are the way to go.
Yeah, if your commute is 100 miles a day, it doesn’t make much sense. If your commute is 50 miles per day, you won’t need to use gasoline unless you go on road trips. I’m sure your daughter’s hybrid gets great mileage, but she’s still using gasoline every day on her commute.