MotorMouths

Even in this rough prototype, the Volt vibe is spacious, comfortable and lively. The whole car seems lit from within by the ambitions of its builders.

A bunch of Midwestern engineers in bad haircuts and cheap wristwatches just out-engineered every other car company on the planet. And they did it in 29 months while GM was falling apart around them. That was downright heroic. Somebody ought to make a movie about the Volt.

Introducing an all-new vehicle, something that has never been tried or sold before, takes money and gumption. Chevrolet has shown both. The Volt is world-beater. Mother Nature might be the first to buy two.

Not to be too Star Trek-y here, but the Volt is practically a holodeck on wheels. But the most remarkable thing about how the Volt drives is how unremarkably it drives.

Frugality and fancy new technology don’t necessarily make a good car. I’ll be honest: My expectations were low. After 200 miles of all kinds of driving, I wanted to hug an engineer. The Volt not only drives like a real, grown-up car, it’s actually lively and fun.

Considering all the hype and waiting, I thought the Volt was destined to disappoint. So far, it hasn’t. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how it works under the surface. What matters is how it works out in the real world — and at first blush, it works damn well.

While it’s easy to get lost in the hows and whys of the Volt’s technology, what’s truly impressive is that the car performs flawlessly. We couldn’t turn up anything that made us feel the Volt’s development was incomplete.

Will the Chevy Volt turn on potential buyers? If our drive in the prototype was any indication, it likely will. It’s well suited to the mass of American commuters.

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt is a significant car, a bold experiment that forces the issue of personal energy consumption to the fore. But the most tangible promise of the Volt is simply that it drives better than more established hybrids.

The 2012 Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid is arguably the most fuel-efficient car on the market, but it’s pricey for what you get.

The 2013 Chevy Volt provides the best all-electric range of any plug-in hybrid, plus gasoline-fueled peace of mind that all-electric competitors can’t match. But it’s pricey for what you get.

From the compliance of its ride quality to the weight and response of the steering, this Chevy Volt drives more naturally and feels more substantial than hybrids like the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius.