I was really concerned, for a while, that the production Volt would end up being a ridiculous joke of a car - the kind of vehicle that, all to often, gets shown in spectacular concept form in auto shows but is produced in a watered down way.

After seeing these photos though, I have to say that I'm getting excited about the Chevy Volt.

Aside from some very basic changes (hoodline, charging port location, and driving lamps), the production car looks about the same as the concept car. Yet more spectacularly, there are eight cars now undergoing scaled down fleet testing.

Chevy Volt Fleet Goes on Extended Road Test | GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

I don't think I'm the target demographic for this car. Regardless, I am very, very excited to see this car come to market - in the same way I'm excited when I see a new McLaren supercar being designed. I just know that the world is going to be a better place when I see a great US car company like GM continue to make this car a reality.

Despite the arguments against the "practicality" and the "carbon neutrality" of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (which have been argued ad nauseum elsewhere), the very fact that this car is designed to drive 40 miles on electric-only and have a gas-extended range of 300+ miles means we're that much closer to a future where I can commute to work an entire month without having to fill up my gas tank once. Heck - if I just use it to go back and forth to and from work - I wouldn't have to fill up my tank in a year.

Just as I was amazed when Toyota and Honda pushed the first hybrids to market, I'm doubly proud that it's an American company that's pushing this technology to market. It may have taken considerable layoffs and injections of large amounts of government money, but if that's what it takes, then so be it.

When it comes time to replace my Corolla, I'd be glad to take one of these: