” but I can see a time like the late fifties and early sixties where kids and a few old farts are souping up their battery-mobiles”
This is going to take an entirely different set of skills; a lot of this is REALLY dangerous, with high-voltage, high-powered electronics.
I don’t think the Volt is it either, but the batteries will get better, a lot of people are working on this. If it cost $10,000 HONEST dollars (no subsidies) less, I’d take a look at it. If the battery actually delivered the originally-planned miles, I think that it would have sold much better.
Some people have already hacked the Prius to make it a plug-in hybrid, with, of course, automatic “Void Your Warranty”.
I myself think the following idea is attractive: an electric car with a towable or modular “bolt-on” for the back with a tubrodiesel generator. So, during the week, you don’t need it, but if you want to take a long trip, you’ve got it. Of course, the EPA and DOT will make a commercial version virtually impossible to build or sell - at least, for now. But then, it’s not a “motor vehicle”, is it?