I think you are mixing apples and oranges in this example... people want to buy a class of car..... they want a top of the line luxury car, so they look at Mercedes, BMW, Lexus etc. and then compare the driving aspects etc. etc. and the price... Remember when Lexus first came out it was similar class level as a Mercedes but a LOT cheaper.. they cut into Mercedes sales... people do not compare a Mercedes with a Ford Focus...
So, the Volt fits in the mid-sized car category... along with Camry, Accord, Sonata, Impala, Malibu etc. etc.. so you compare the features with these other cars... and their prices... so there is an economic componet of the decision.... how much
That is different for everybody....