2011 Chevrolet Volt
General Motors calls the 2011 Chevrolet Volt an extended-range electric vehicle because it can run for 40 miles on electric power alone and only uses gasoline to power a generator if the 40-mile range is exceeded. See more pictures of future hybrid cars.

Consumer Guide's Impressions of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt

A big-buzz electric car is on the fast track to showrooms as General Motors races to trump hybrid-leader Toyota. But it won't look like the racy Volt concept, and a carload of costly and complex "clean tech" could mean a stiff un-Chevy price.

What We Know About the 2011 Chevrolet Volt

At a recent General Motors media event, GM "product czar" Bob Lutz wanted to be sure there wasn't any confusion. According to Lutz, the 2011 Chevy Volt is not a plug-in hybrid, but rather it is an extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV).

General Motors is determined to sell an E-REV before anyone else. That's why it's working flat-out to meet a self-imposed November 2010 deadline with the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. Among the most radical of GM's near-term "green car" promises, the Volt is not just a symbolic "moon shot" for this beleaguered American company. It's a grudge-match challenge to Toyota, which is poised to end GM's 75-year reign as the world's largest automaker, an achievement fueled in part by the Japanese brand's big lead in hybrid technology and sales. As Larry Burns, GM vice president for research and development, told Car and Driver magazine, "Toyota creamed us on the Prius. It won't happen again." Yes, folks, this is personal.

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt will differ markedly from the Prius and other gasoline/electric hybrids. It will also differ in many ways from the racy-looking Volt concept unveiled at the January 2007 Detroit Auto Show. Since that big-buzz reveal, GM has gone out of its way to keep the media fully briefed on the production car's progress. As a result, we now have a good many specifics about the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, though important questions remain.

Updated by Don Sikora II 03.02.2009

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