Here's an new Edmunds article on the car.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...cleId=116204#2
YES, it was developed with Lotus.
And, YES, the energy comes from somewhere but there is tremendous saving to the environment with an electric car in terms of emissions. This car gets the equivalent of
135 miles per gallon.
Lastly, there is an option to have solar panels mounted on your garage just for charging the car. And that's infinity miles per no gallon (assuming you don't live in Seattle).
It's a great leap and just like every other brand new technology, cheaper & better versions should start popping up in the near future.