NARRATION
Buying a new car is a big decision - and we all have different criteria.

Dr Jonica Newby
I had two ... it had to fit my 8ft 4 longboard ... and, because I was worried Peak Oil is going to put the price of petrol up, it had to be low fuel.

Which left me with a choice of ... ooh really about one car.

NARRATION
But the car companies are in a race to produce the world's first family friendly electric car.

Mark Perry
By 2020, ten percent of the world's market will be pure battery electric

Tony Posowatz
The future is electric drive.

NARRATION
So I'm packing some essentials and heading to America - to test out the cars that will hit our shores in just a year.

And we're off - to Detroit ... home of iconic American car company General Motors. First car out of the blocks - it's the Volt.

Dr Jonica Newby
This is the car GM has pinned its future on. Let's see how it drives. In minus 20 degrees. Here's the shift to use an American term. It's so quiet.

I'm driving in the snow ...

NARRATION
Of all the car companies, GM best represents how radical a turnaround there's been.

They famously pulped all their electric cars just seven years ago - as documented in the film "Who killed the Electric Car".

Yet when the GFC sent the company under, it was the promise to deliver this car that helped justify the US government's decision to bail them......