Automobile Magazine awarded the Chevy Volt its Car of the Year Award and it wants you to know that it didn’t hand that title over easily.

Automobile states that, “the Chevrolet Volt endured more scrutiny and skepticism than any of the nine other semifinalists.” While this prize isn’t a huge surprise, Automobile is feeling a little defensive because it’s worried that the Volt is starting to be regarded as a bit of a media darling which may not be deserving of the prizes it’s been receiving.

The Chevy Volt was also recently named the 2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year and unless everyone is somehow being hoodwinked, it’s looking like it’ll be a very popular car.

Automobile lauded the Volt and described it as a “game changer” which is good news as that’s what it pretty much has to be for this massive GM gamble to pay off. They went on to praise its groundbreaking powertrain and suggested that a massive percentage of Voly owners will probably never be forced pull into a gas station ever again.

Only time will tell if car buyers will feel the same way about the Volt.

The highly regarded documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car, took a critical look at General Motors and its motives for ending production on the EV1 electric car.

Now, the people behind the doc, including director Chris Paine, are shooting on the floor of the GM Chevy Volt production facility. The new footage will go towards a sequel coming out next year called, Revenge of the Electric Car.

The crew shot the “birth” of the 100th pre-production Chevy Volt electric vehicle, a fitting scene considering the last film ended with the “death” of the EV1.

General Motors has recently filed for a bizarre trademark in claiming the right to the term, “Range Anxiety.” Range anxiety, for those new to electric car discussions, is the term used to describe that some electric vehicle drivers might feel if they are low on battery power and not close to home or a charging station. It reflects the limited range of the electric car and is generally considered the primary negative aspect of owning an electric car.

Gm has applied for the rights to phrase in order to “promote public awareness of electric vehicle capabilities.” This seems unlikely however since GM has no current fully electric vehicles available, or even expected in the near future. What they do have is the Chevy Volt (image above) coming out this Fall with its range-extending engine.

So GM will be using fear-based marketing to scare potential Volt buyers away from pure electric competition like the Nissan Leaf.

We’re looking forward to the first Volt commercials where drivers are stranded on the road and eventually die of starvation thanks to range anxiety.

Karl Stracke, who is the Vice President of global engineering at General Motors, as come out with a statement which if true, could alter the face of the hybrid sportscar. He was quoted as saying that the idea of a hybrid corvette was “interesting” and added ““You could keep a normal powertain configuration for a small amount of very excited car enthusiasts,” Stracke said. “And turn 80 to 90 percent of your sports-car portfolio to hybridization.”

Stracke made the comments whilst denying that GM was developing a mid-engined Corvette.

Some perspective Chevy Volt buyers got a little nervous last week after the vehicle line director, Tony Posawatz state that the Chevy Volt engine is calibrated to run on premium gasoline. Now that the furor has settled down some more accurate descriptions of the Chevy Volt engine is starting to emerge.

GM has just announced that the Chevy Volt battery will come with an 8-year / 100,000 mile warranty.

The announcement came today during a media briefing at a battery manufacturing facility in Michigan by GM Vice Chairman tom Stephens who went on to say that it has always been GM’s goal and intention to provide the Chevy Volt with a lithium-ion battery pack that would last for the entire life of the vehicle.

While GM refers to the Volt as an electric car, the California Air Resources Board looks at the range extending engine and considers the battery to be part of the its emission control system which means that it is mandated to have an eight-year warranty.

Other Chevy Volt battery pack details include the fact that 95% of its components were designed and built by GM, it weighs a hefty 400 lbs., and packs 110 kilowatts.

With GM set to begin selling the Chevy Volt later this year, there are undoubtedly tens of thousands of drivers ready to purchase one of these hotly anticipated electric cars. But wanting a Chevy Volt and getting a Chevy Volt are likely to be two very different things.

GM’s production plans for the Chevy Volt could be called conservative at best with only 10,000 Volts slated for production in 2011. Production is set to increase in 2012 up to 30,000 but even then demand is likely to be far from met unless the electric car is a total flop.

Currently GM has a list of potential buyers that is 53,000 names long. Despite the obvious interest and media attention, GM is playing it safe.

“We want to make sure, at the beginning, that everything is right, “GM spokesman Rob Peterson stated. Not only will GM be entering very different territory with the electric car, it also need to be sure that dealerships are properly prepared to service the Chevy Volt’s unique systems.

Not only is GM putting the brakes on the number of Volts it’s selling each year, it’s even restricting the places that it can be purchase with only six states seeing dealerships getting the Chevy Volt.

For over a decade now new GM vehicles have come with a one-year subscription to OnStar. When the free period ends, GM drivers are charged $199 per year if they want to keep the service going.

GM has just announced that Chevy Volt buyers will get an extended free period of OnStar use. While the time extension hasn’t been specified yet the details have been promised for later this summer when the Chevy Volt pricing is revealed.

GM has explained that the reason for the OnStar subscription extension is because the Volt is significantly more dependant on the system than previous GM vehicles including functions that allow owners with iPhones, Blackberries and Android phones to check and manage their Volt’s charging and climate control remotely.

According to the New York Times, GM has agreed to sell Saab to the small Dutch company, Spyker Cars.

Spyker, known for it’s high-end sports cars, will breathe new life into Saab, which otherwise, would probably ceased to exist.

GM Saab facilities, based in Sweden, had already initiated shutting down at the start of 2010. The sale to Spyker will stop the scuttling of the Saab infrastructure and see the facilities start producing Saab vehicles again.

If GM has its way, America’s infatuation with the pickup truck won’t necessarily have to come with nearly as much eco-guilt. GM is currently investing big, in ways to significantly improve fuel efficiency on their newer lines of trucks.

The focus of the investment, which is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, will be on improving the mileage of the full size GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado (pictured above).

GM is coming at the improvements from all angles and going beyond typical engine adjustments with things like an upgraded grille that would include electronically adjusted openings that would boost aerodynamic efficiency while engine cooling is not required.