General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), after seeing sales plummet for larger cars and SUVs over the past 18 months because of higher energy prices, is now doing a major about-face. It's no secret that a large part of GM's future strategy is tied up in alternative fuels and electric vehicles for the consumer market. Translation: inflation and energy prices are changing consumer gas price attitudes.

Robert Lutz, GM's product design expert extraordinaire (oh, and Vice Chairman), is placing a large bet on the Chevrolet Volt, a 100% electric vehicle that GM hopes will capture the imaginations -- and wallets -- of energy-conscious consumers. Lutz even calls the Volt GM's "moon shot" in a reference to a once-in-a-lifetime NASA goal to place a man on the moon in the 1960s. GM has a once-in-a-product-cycle chance to get a mass-produced, well-liked electric vehicle into dealer showrooms before any other global auto manufacturer.

Lutz, who speaks the best geek-speak there is concerning vehicle dynamics and drag coefficients, seems certain that GM can outfox Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) by getting a popular, 100% electric vehicle into mass production first. Toyota's existing Prius is a hybrid (gas and electric), and the race is on to get a completely electric car onto the showroom floor. Since there is no gas engine, which provides power for air conditioners and many other components, all systems from entertainment to windshield wipers had to be created from the ground up for the new Volt. From reading this Lutz interview, the Volt has the potential to place GM on top of the auto world again. That is, if done right and before the competition beats it to the electric vehicle game.

As Jonathan Berr pointed out early today it is quite possible that the days of cheap gas are gone forever. In another article Sarah Gilbert told her story of hanging up her keys for good in her fight against high gas prices and carbon emissions. As more and more people become tired of high gas prices and a steadily worsening environment, auto makers are going to be under increasing pressure to move towards alternative fuel vehicles.

Today General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) announced its timetable for getting out an electric car. The company now thinks that it will be able to start to produce a completely electric car by the year 2010. While its target is still 3 years away it is good to see progress being made towards the day of the electric car taking over the roadways.

But don't get too carried away just yet. GM is hedging its bets and has already stated that whether or not it will actually be able to meet the 2010 deadline remains a mystery even to them. It is estimating there is a 10% chance that the program will fail to be successful.

The company expects to have a prototype of the car, called the Volt, finished by the end of this year. Critics like to point to a failure in 2006 for GM to capitalize on their first attempt at the electric car named the EV1 but the company firmly insists this time will be different.

While plans are still way up in the air, GM thinks that the Volt is going to be able to offer customers up to 40 miles on a charged battery, which should provide the average commuter a full days worth of power on a single charge. Not ideal for long trips, but more than plenty for getting around town.

Good luck GM. We are cheering for you!

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

Is GM's latest foray into the electric car field going to be a splash or a dud? Sure, General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) and others -- like Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) and Honda Motor Company (NYSE: HMC) -- have revealed electric vehicles before to some success or complete failure. It seems like the "total solution" still has not arrived. That is, the right combination of price, convenience, style and other amenities that would make a new concept extremely popular.

After reading about GM's new electric Volt vehicle (very unemotional and unsexy name, by the way), the 640-mile range and small combustion engine meant to recharge batteries that are built into the car sounds like a great first step for a feature list. The external style looks great (very Cadillac-esque) and the range looks just as good.

Since only electricity powers the vehicle (not an engine), Chevy is calling this an actual "Electric Vehicle," or EV. The Volt is still in concept, so if GM waits three years to get this to market and charges a 30% premium for it, it will crash and burn, as always. But if the company can release it in late 2008 and at a price that represents a small premium to standard gasoline-powered cars of the same class, maybe GM will have a winner -- finally -- on its hands.