Apparently General Motors is having a rough time in the North American market: GM Limps Toward Recovery

I think that, just maybe, if they wouldn't have helped to kill the electric car, they would not be in this situation. In order to survive long-term, a corporation must change its business model with the times. GM's business model of technological stagnation with the IC engine, and promotion of the idea of the automobile being a fashion-statement consumer commodity have led it to where it is today.

From the film "Who Killed The Electric Car?"

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"GM made a commitment to the Hummer, because they could see that the Hummer would make them money."

The engineers of vehicles have done a good job of making the engine more efficient at converting gasoline-derived heat into mechanical power, but those gains were used to make the cars bigger and more powerful rather than to increase the fuel efficiency.

One of the misunderstandings people have about electric vehicles is that they are not powerful enough to handle situations they may encounter while driving. For example, today it is snowing where I live...

"But electric cars aren't very good in the snow!"

Electric motors can output their full torque across their entire operating speed range. A combustion engine needs to be "revved" up to speed before it will begin to produce an appreciable amount of torque. There is not a problem with the motors being underpowered; an electric motor will provide adequate power for any weather situation. The motors in the EV1 ran up to 100,000 watts, which is the equivalent of 134 horsepower. That's 134 horsepower available as soon as the accelerator pedal is pushed to the floor.

What most of the electric cars ever made are not are 3-ton weights flying down the highway at a mile a minute. They can go a mile a minute, but they don't weigh 3 tons. The more the vehicle weighs, the more energy must be expended in doing its job of transporting passengers and related cargo from one point to another.