General Motors is racing to be the first of the big American, or indeed worldwide, automakers to come to market with a radically different kind of car—one that relies on an extended-life battery, a gasoline engine, and an electric motor to power it—and the company’s taking an approach to marketing that would make a tech firm proud.

The Chevrolet Volt is a first-of-its-kind car, with a battery and electric motor that will carry it 40 miles on an electric charge alone, and a small gasoline-powered engine that kicks in when the charge gets low and recharges the battery. GM has bragged that the Volt will be able to drive 300 miles on a gallon of gas.

That's an impressive sales pitch for the Volt, but analysts don't expect it to be enough to single-handedly change around the fortunes of the beleaguered auto giant. After all, GM has taken multiple body blows over the past several years, including an infusion of $60 billion from the government and a trip through bankruptcy court. GM will also have to produce compelling gasoline-powered cars too, since electric cars are expected to make up only 20 percent of the U.S. market anytime in the near future.

But the Volt is a significant step, both from a product and a PR point of view, a sign that a U.S. automaker can still do something revolutionary. And it’s also a bet by GM on the automaking know-how of hometown and state since much of the work on building the Volt will be done in Michigan at plants near Detroit.

General Motors is far from alone in electrifying the automobile. California startup Tesla has had a high-end electric roadster on the market for a year. And Nissan is rolling out its all-electric Leaf this year, taking orders for the car in April and rolling it into driveways by December. But GM insists its technology is different from that of other automakers, and its car will be more practical because its technology allows for long drives in the Volt, where other electric cars will need to recharge more frequently.

(Explore an interactive about the Volt, what makes it run and how it compares with other electric cars, by clicking here.)

In essence, the Volt is new technology for the automobile market, and GM is treating its marketing efforts for the car that way—aiming it squarely at those who rush to buy the first high-tech products in markets like California when it rolls out later this year.

“We’ve done a lot of research with customers,” said Cristi Landy, Volt global product manager. “They will be early adopters, very interested in leading-edge technology.” They will be a little older, able to afford the extra cash it takes to buy a revolutionary new product. And, finally, she said, “Obviously we think that the customers will lean toward environmental benefits.”