GM expects to continue briefing the media and the interested public on the Volt's progress. At the New York International Auto Show in late March, it made the development team available for “Volt Nation,” sponsored by the private Web site GM-Volt.com. There, hundreds of Volt fans from around the country got definitive answers to their questions—or polite demurrals on sensitive topics—from the engineers actually creating the Volt.

At that same show, both Mitsubishi and Subaru showed tiny all-electric cars it plans to sell in their home market within two years—and announced it would be testing them in the U.S. Both Subaru's R1e and Mitsubishi's i-MiEV are adapted from vehicles sold with gasoline engines in the kei class, which limits dimensions (3.4 m long, 2 m high, 1.5 m wide), engine size (0.66 liter), and power (47 kilowatts).

The Subaru R1e, the smaller looking of the two, is a two-door hatchback based on the R1 minicar. The company partnered with Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) to develop the fleet of 40 electric R1s it has been testing since 2006. It uses a 40-kW permanent-magnet motor, powered by a lithium-ion battery pack of unspecified capacity, though the company quotes a top speed of 100 km/h, a range up to 80 km, and an 8-hour charging time on household current. It also projects that battery life will be 10 years or 160 000 km.

In Japan, Subaru plans to build 100 more R1e's and sell them to real-world consumers by the end of next year. Meanwhile, back in the States, Subaru will provide two cars to the New York Power Authority this summer for three months of testing in New York City. (Because the R1 was not designed to meet U.S. safety or equipment standards, the cars must ultimately be returned to Japan—or be crushed.)

Though still tiny, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV appears larger than the Subaru due to its egg-shaped four-door body. The “i” concept on which it is based is lauded for the interior room it packs into the standard kei dimensions. Its “rear midship” engine sits on its side under the rear seat, giving it the longest cabin in its class, with space freed up at the front for passengers. The i-MiEV replaces the engine, transmission, and fuel tank with a lithium-ion battery pack, motor, inverter, and electronics.

Its 330V, 16-kWh battery has 22 modules of 4 cells each, developed by a partnership of Mitsubishi and battery maker GS Yuasa Corporation, the only mass producer of large-format lithium-ion batteries in Japan. It powers a 47-kW motor that generates 180 newton meters of torque. Claimed maximum speed is 130 km/h, with a range of roughly 160 km.

Mitsubishi plans to sell the i-MiEV in Japan by 2009, and it is sending at least one to its U.S. arm for evaluation. But like the R1e, the right-hand-drive i-MiEV test vehicles must be returned to Japan because they cannot legally be sold in North America. David Patterson, senior manager of regulatory affairs and certification, Mitsubishi Research and Design America, said the company is looking seriously at whether to certify the “i” car for sale in North American markets—which would be a daring move, since it would be smaller than any other car sold except for one: the two-seater Smart forTwo.

Finally, electric-car start-up Tesla Motors has sued automotive designer Henrik Fisker, whom it hired last year to do the body design for its White Star plug-in hybrid four-door sedan. That car will follow the Tesla Roadster, now in production. The suit alleges that Fisker took the contract only to gain access to Tesla's trade secrets, did substandard work for Tesla, and then used the fee to establish Fisker Automotive, of Irvine, Calif.—which showed off the Karma, a sleek, four-door plug-in hybrid concept, at this year's North American International Auto Show, in Detroit. Industrial espionage or tactical maneuvering? You be the judge.

Editor's Note: General Motors provided airfare and two nights of lodging to Spectrum's reporter.