Here's an interesting little tidbit I recently culled from United Press International last week: It seems that a firm in Cincinnati is planning to market some snazzy electric retrofit cars.

The strategy is to take General Motors (NYSE: GM) Saturn vehicles, including four-door sedans and SUVs, rip the internal combustion engines out of them, and replace those engines with plug-in electric power plants, batteries, and some computer stuff. The company is called Advanced Mechanical Products Inc. and is reportedly headed up by partners Jack Kuntz and Steve Burns. The claims are that the cars will accelerate from 0 to 60 in about 6 seconds, run about 150 miles between charges, and will sell for under $50,000.

I'm wondering what the company will do with those left over Saturn engines. I'm also wondering why the choice of Saturns to retrofit. And I'm wondering where I put that ten-foot pole I had. No matter, I wouldn't touch this scenario with one anyway. Perhaps when those guys drive one from Cincinnati to my house, I might think about it, but until then my opinion is: Beware in Ohio.

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.