Chevy Volt wins kudos and fans

A panel of automotive journalist awarded the Chevrolet Volt the title of 2011 World Green Car of the Year at the 2011 New York International Auto Show. It won out over competitors that included the all-electric Nissan Leaf and the BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics Edition, a diesel-powered car that gets 57 mpg. Other awards it has earned include:

- Ward’s AutoWorld 10 Best Engines for 2011
- 2011 North American Car of the Year
- Motor Trend 2011 Car of the Year
- Green Car Journal 2011 Green Car of the Year
- Car and Driver 10 Best for 2011
-Automobile Magazine 2011 Automobile of the Year
-2010 Breakthrough Technology from Popular Mechanics

The Volt is also winning fans, maybe fanatics is a better word, among people who have bought one. It seems many of them are challenging themselves to see how far and for how long they can go without buying gas. On average, Volt owners go about 30 days and 800 miles between fill-ups, according to Chevrolet. In March of this year, they averaged 1,000 miles between visits to the gas pump.

Now if Chevy could only sell a few more. Between January when it went on sale and March of this year, the company sold about 930 of the extended-range hybrid Volt.

 For more information on the Volt, read this article in a recent issue of EET.