As phillip10 pointed out, there are plenty of Teslas on the road already here. so lets quit acting like an electric vehicle can't work at all in a cold weather location. Do they have significantly less range in the winter? No doubt, but that does not mean there is no application for them.
If folks are surprised that an automaker is interested in electrifying what is their best selling vehicle, they aren't paying attention.
A family member has a plug in electric hybrid, and for his use, it works perfect. 9+ months out of the year, he runs on nearly all electricity, and in the winter, uses the gas engine a lot more. It fits his commute to work daily perfectly, and nets a significantly lower cost per mile for fuel (including electricity) than the gas version of the same car would yield. Seems like a win win.