2016 Chevrolet Volt: First Drive

What is it: Chevrolet Volt, four-door plug-in hybrid sedan.

Price as tested: $33,995

Competitors: Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, Ford C-Max Energi

Alternatives: Toyota Prius, Ford C-Max, Tesla Model S

Pros: Tremendous fuel efficiency, electric power (most of the time)

Cons: Still costs a bundle compared to non-battery powered machines, still tight on the inside.

Would I buy it with my own money? As it sits, there’s too many conventional alternatives at far more attractive prices.

Most predictions don’t work out. If they did, we’d all be drinking New Coke at McDonald’s while chowing down on Arch Deluxes and surfing the web on Windows Vista laptops. The future is rarely what we thought it would be. And so this story isn’t about the all-new 2016 Edsel.

Instead the subject here is the second-generation 2016 Chevrolet Volt. It’s an evolutionary step forward for the pioneering plug-in hybrid that bad Old GM conceived, and brave New GM leveraged to win government backing to secure its future. The Volt has been a political tool since first appearing as a concept in 2007, but has only infrequently been evaluated as a driving machine since it entered production as a 2011 model. Over time, its novelty has faded, and it has moved from the forefront of the automotive consciousness to one to the far back burners. But it’s still around, it’s now significantly better than before, and it’s bound to excite practically no one.

Its campaign days behind it, the Volt is now a real car. And it looks more like one too. The self-consciously future-think, slab-sided style of the first Volt has been ditched in favor of a more conventional and more heavily sculptured look. Throw your eyes out of focus and rub some Vaseline on your corneas and it could be a new Hyundai or Mazda. It’s still a five-door hatchback, but more conventional from its pointed prow back across its shark fin antenna to finish up with obliquely shaped taillights. It’s good looking, but it doesn’t really stand out.