You would think after this much time that, at the very least, a company with the resources of Chrysler or GM could produce a car with range performance that slightly exceeded those hand made cars.

40 miles, to me anyways, seems like some arbitrary and bogus range. How is it possible that both companies cars only reach that very low figure?

I think the auto companies are scared. I think they fear that as soon as they release a serious electric car the oil companies will retaliate with gas so high that car sales and resales plummet to a very slow trickle. It might even be possible that these "last gasp" oil hikes are a reaction to the Tesla motor car and the hubbub that surrounded it.

Secretly, I suspect both companies are ready with a vehicle that can go 500 miles before a recharge and this sham introduction is just a tit-fot-tat threat to get the oil prices back in line. Both sides don't trust each the other and are afraid they will get the jump on them before they can transform their industries.