Why is it the generation two EV1s could go between 100 and 140 miles to the charge and the Dolt only gets 40 at best?
Apples and Oranges. The Volt is a PHEV. It is designed to run in electric mode for 40 miles as that is the average daily commute for an American. Anything over the electric range is supplemented by the ICE generating power for the batteries running the electric motor. This keeps the price of the batteries lower than a pure EV with a 100 or 150 mile range. They are still very expensive. Turning a $15k car into a $35-40k car. But a pure EV with a 150-200 mile range would be upward of $100k for the batteries.
Also the Volt can make the trip from NOLA to Atlanta without stopping to recharge the batteries; as someone else pointed out above. The EV1 probably could not make that trip.