As a non-American, could I ask what you mean when you say that this particular model of car "is a bad piece of technology forced upon the American taxpayer"? How are American taxpayers "forced" to buy any car, let alone this particular model?
Several have answered exactly as I would have...essentially when we, the taxpayers, are cajoled into paying for a car through tax rebates (you get like $5,000 from the government for buying one) and taking tax money and funding the company, specifically the department that makes these hunks of junk, we believe we have been "forced" to purchasing the vehicle (in the national sense.)
Yet I go to local Chevy dealership and they can't sell them (primarily sticker price...I mean who really wants to pay $40k for something that looks like a $20k Ford Tarus or Chevy Malibu) and they are pretty useless below the Mason Dixon line (a geographical distinctive that indicates the South) since the weather eats up the battery.
Just doesn't make sense to me. Hope that helps.