Chevrolet Volt Named Car of the Year in North America

We have a feeling most of you saw this coming. After benefiting all year long (we mean 2010, of course) from what may be considered preferential treatment from North American media (preferential compared to the Nissan Leaf), the Chevrolet Volt, GM's first attempt to make history in the electric vehicle sector, was named North American Car of the Year by a panel comprising international journalists.

The Volt thus won the first true major battle against its single rival to date, the Leaf. It also beat the single non-EV to have made it into the finals in the competition, the Hyundai Sonata. Simply put, an American car beats a Japanese car (rivals for as long as we can remember) and a South Korean one (a strong presence on the North American market.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized as the North American Car of the Year,” said GM CEO Dan Akerson. “Since development began, we believed the Volt had the potential to transform the automotive industry.”

“Today, the Volt is the first electric vehicle to win the prestigious North American Car of the Year award, and the first vehicle ever to receive the industry’s highest automotive, technology, and environmental recognitions. Such recognition provides customers with credible, expert endorsement of new models.”

The Volt has begun rolling out the assembly lines in late 2010, arriving as a plug-in hybrid, which uses both electric motors and internal powered one to go about its business. The EPA rated its range at 379 miles, 35 of which are purely electric.