Tune out, all ye car haters. I'm sounding off about an auto again. The world's most promising electric vehicle, GM's Chevrolet Volt,was my companion this morning for a 75-mile drive through the most spectacular parts of the Texas Hill Country, some parts of which look so much like the Rhine valley that I found myself muttering in German, and I was quite audible to myself because there was no sound from the Volt bar the occasional whisper of wind.

Suffice it to say for now that this bet is GM's to lose.