33,000 in Line for the Chevrolet Volt?

I'm still unconvinced about the Chevrolet Volt, GM's plug-in hybrid which is scheduled to hit the road, or at least complete development, by the end of 2010. Besides the fact that it's a GM car (and I've had little luck with U.S. autos), the current estimated price of the darn thing is going to be $40,000 and that doesn't even fit into the desired price range of its biggest fans (more on that later).

But while normally a car maker keeps an unreleased vehicle under wraps during development, you can sense the pressure GM feels to make the Volt work, via the amount of publicity so far.

In fact, on Tuesday, one of the biggest fans of the Volt, Lyle Dennis, a New York neurologist unveiled a list of prospective Volt buyers he has been assembling for over a year through his Web site GM-Volt.com.

As of this writing, his "waiting list" numbers 33,510 potential buyers, with the largest number from California (1065) and then Texas (583). Bad news for GM: the average amount buyers are willing to spend on the Volt: $31,286.83. That $40K is going to be a tough sell.

GM still has a number of hurdles to overcome, such as development of the Li-ion battery pack that will power the vehicle. They're certainly not slacking, though, based on this blurb on their site by Tony Posawatz, Vehicle Line Director – E-Flex Systems and the Chevy Volt, General Motors Corp.

"We have devoted significant resources to this project: Over 200 engineers and 50 designers are working on the Volt alone, and another 400 are working on related subsystems and electric components. That's how important we think this is, and that’s how much stock we place in the future of extended-range electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt."