Chevrolet's New? Electric Car

Chevrolet has recently introduced a "NEW" concept car, the Volt. It is an electric car that the ad states will go 40 miles, or less, on a single charge. The ad can been seen at, http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/?seo=goo_electric_car. I place the word NEW in quotes because this is not a new thing. Great idea, but not new. There have been electric cars before, and not all that long ago. GM had an electric car named the EV1. It was actually on the roads and the people who were lucky enough to lease them (there was no option to buy them), loved them. There are numorous web sites discussing and cussing the cars, which were out from 1998 - 2003. The range on the EV1 was between 60 - 80 in its original release and supposedly up to 120 with an upgrade in battery technology. Also as the batteries improved, the next release was supposed to get more than 200 miles on a single charge. The new generation of batteries never made it to the cars. GM purchased the patent for the battery design from the creator and later sold it to Chevron. I just can't imagine why Chevon would not want an advanced battery design out on the market, hmm.
So instead of stepping forward with something that was already in place several years ago, let's take several steps backward, wrap it up in a fancy body and call it innovative and new. Come on Chevrolet, let's not reinvent the wheel. Viable technology already existed for electric cars. We have made huge technological jumps in the past few years. You're telling me that you can only get 40 miles or less on current battery technology?
Information about the EV1 can be found at the following sites, among others.
http://www.ev1.org/
www.treehugger.com/files/2006/07/ev1_criticism.php
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/15/AR2006061502052_pf.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/11/eveningnews/main543605.shtml