First Award for the Volt: Green Car of the Year

The Chevrolet Volt hasn't even been launched on the market and has already won its first accolade and, why not, the first battle against its archenemy, the Nissan Leaf. The Volt has been named today Green Car of the Year by the Green Car Journal, after a competition against the Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, Lincoln MKZ Hybrid and, of course, the Nissan Leaf.

"The Green Car of the Year award validates the Chevrolet team's promise to deliver a practical electric vehicle," said Joel Ewanick, GM Marketing vice president "The Volt's a transformational technology that will lead our industry into a new age of vehicle electrification."

The award was handed to Ewanick after he arrived at the Los Angeles Auto Show behind the wheel of a Volt. The award for the Volt marks the second year in a row the title goes to a GM model (the Chevrolet Tahoe 2-Mode Hybrid received it last year).

The criteria on which the Volt has been chosen green car of the year matter perhaps less than the fact that the battle between the PHEV (Volt) and (EV) is heating up and, truth be told, might become dirty at times.

By winning the title, the Volt became the first of its kind to get a crown. It also beat its rival and, above all, it got the award the exact same day mother company GM brought its still gas-guzzling (compared to the Volt and Leaf) Camaro SS to roar on Wall Street “we have gone public!”