VOLT EV IS CAR-OF-THE-YEAR

Chevrolet Volt wins coveted North American Car of the Year
January 10, 2011 (USA Today)

"…[A]uto writers have chosen the breakthrough Chevrolet Volt as the North American Car of the Year. It beat out the Hyundai Sonata and the electric Nissan Leaf.

"…[T]he voting: 233 points for Volt, 163 for Sonata and 94 for Leaf. (Poor little Leaf deserves more respect)."

The Chevrolet Volt, the 2011 North American Car-of-the-Year (click to enlarge)

"…[T]his year, the industry's most prestigious award was driven by technology. General Motors' Volt is the first plug-in car from a major automaker -- with a backup engine to give it unlimited range. Nissan's Leaf is a pure electric car. Both went on sale in December."

click to enlarge

"But Volt has a list price of $41,000, putting it out of reach of most buyers. And Leaf has limited range, about 80 to 100 miles per charge, dissuading many buyers. That made it look like the Sonata might swoop in for a win -- a conventional car that dramatically cut weight and added to gas mileage that sold almost 200,000 last year.

"In the end, though…the auto writers…[were probably] lured by the compelling back story of General Motor's resurrection from bankrutpcy on the heels of its wondercar…"