And the 2011 North American Car of the Year is…

Volt

The all new 2011 gas and electric plug-in Chevy Volt beat out both the Nissan Leaf and the highly successful Hyundai Sonata to be named the 2011 North American Car of the Year today.

The North American Car of the Year is selected by jury of 49 veteran automotive journalists from both the United States and Canada. To qualify the vehicle must be “all-new” or “substantially changed” from the previous model.

The Volt is of course GM’s much anticipated plug in gas and electric hybrid, and is capable of going up to about 40 miles on a full battery charge before the gas engine kicks in to power the car.

Voltinside

In theory the Volt can be used as a pure EV only for short around town commutes but it can also be driven across the country without the need to stop and recharge the battery because it also has a traditional gasoline engine that can power the car at the same time.

Since it was introduced in December, GM has so far sold 326 Volts.

Click HERE to read our recent first drive review of the 2011 Volt.

Follow on twitter @TFLcar or watch latest car
review videos on YouTube.