Something that came to my mind is that the whole German economy, and Japanese for that matter, is in for some seriously choppy waters ahead. I think the Japanese are far more ahead than the Germans, but when you consider just how much of the German economy is dependent on combustion engine driven vehicles there have got to be some seriously anxious people in Germany right now. Worse yet for them if they are not anxious as heck.
BMW has already been researching electric vehicles for years - with the first one, the i3, coming soon. I personally don't like the i3's looks, but the i8 looks very promising. Anyhow, BWM has the relevant technology.
VW's position is more interesting. According to them, Diesel is preferrable over electric for a wide range of use cases. And I guess they are right as long as battery technology does not significantly improve.
In the Bay Area, you can join BMW drive now for $20 one-time fee and pay $30/day for rentals (zipcar style) of BMW activee 1 series. (Use TECHSF as the code)
I was going to go pick up one in a few hours to see how it handles. Benefit being free HOV lane access.
There was an incident in which a wrecked Volt caught fire three weeks after a crash test. But if you haven't left your car three weeks after a severe side impact, you probably have bigger problems.
