A very telling suggestion for renaming the Chevy Volt. The Coyote Blog points out that not only will the Volt Bastiat be expensive, it won't save much on fuel costs and it won't reduce the carbon footprint much [h/t Kip].
I am thinking about renaming the Chevy Volt the Chevy Bastiat. Because the entire vehicle concept is based on the hope that people will ignore the unseen. Specifically, those pushing the vehicle are hoping that buyers will just assume the electricity for the vehicle is free (after all it is not separately metered) and that the CO2 footprint is zero (despite the fact that in states like Michigan, an electric car is essentially powered by coal combustion.
For more on Frederic Bastiat, see this.
Update: a colleague writes, "I guess its more symbolism - almost like wearing a religious symbol.. The Chevy Hairshirt?"