The Chevrolet Volt is unquestionably my car of 2010, because it is the car of the future that will become many people’s car in the driveway. The viable EV. At last.

We all know the score – electric car up to 40 miles, generator assistance above that – but it was only driving it that really illustrated what a groundbreaking concept it is.

The more EVs you drive, the more you realise they’re great. Instant torque, no vibrations, silence, the general vigour of a stepless and powerful magnetic force. Engine designers have been trying to achieve this for years.

Also, though, the more you also start to stare at range-remaining dash displays and find your nerves are jangling.

That’s because, yup, batteries go flat. It’s hideous enough to go out for the night with 24% showing on the iPhone. Think, then, of the nightmare of driving the kids to school, and turning round at the school gates with 49% showing on the EV dash display. Yikes.

All that is nulled in the Chevrolet Volt. It’s an electric car with the cake of EV that, like the best New Year diets, you can eat and eat without getting flat.

The engine is like having an onboard Honda generator. When you’re on-grid, all’s fine. But when the power’s cut, the genny kicks in to supply current to the batteries. (When you drive it, you realise this is SO unlike a Toyota Prius, the ‘debates’ are simply not valid).

The significance is not solely in the engine’s ability to run and generate, though. That’s more like Linus’ security blanket. Rather, its presence is helping prove to people that EVs CAN work, that we CAN integrate battery-powered cars into our lives.

How so? Well, Chevrolet Volt owners will willingly, I’m guessing, seek out ways to ensure the engine never kicks in – by recharging at work, recharging at the mall and so forth. They’ll then discover that these processes aren’t actually all that tiresome, and eventually become EV owners who view the engine as added weight for an emergency rather than the core of the car.

It’s nice that it’s there, because it means they only have to own one car – but it will be viewed more and more as a spare wheel than as an integral component.

Seriously, how many of us regularly do more than 40 miles a day, if we’re not commuting?

As part of Chevrolet Volt ownership is a home plug point that makes ‘filling up’ each night as simple as locking the car, so the added conveniences more than outweigh the negatives.

It’s a gamechanger, the Chevrolet Volt. It will do the entire EV industry a service, by proving it’s all viable. When all cars start to switch over to electric drive, the Chevrolet Volt may well become known as the tipping point.

An absolutely deserved vote for my top car of 2010.

Happy New Year!