Auto News 5

It wasn't a shoo-in. Quite the opposite, in fact. On its way to becoming Automobile Magazine's 2011 Automobile of the Year, the Chevrolet Volt endured more scrutiny and skepticism than any of the nine other semifinalists. From the unprecedented levels of publicity, we knew the Volt as a green-as-grass image builder, but we also couldn't ignore that it's a car built by a historically inconsistent automaker around unproven technology. The foreign aura is furthered by the fact that the Volt has no obvious competition and no real predecessor. It is genuinely an all-new car, in the most simplistic sense as well as in the greater notion that the Volt is unlike any vehicle we have ever driven. No apologies if we were a bit circumspect.