Chevrolet has become the first company to sell 100,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles in the United States thanks to the immensely popular Volt.

Since hitting the market in 2011, the Volt has consistently been one of the country’s highest selling hybrids, only really being rivalled by the Nissan Leaf which at one stage, was actually selling in higher numbers than the Volt.

According to director of marketing for Chevrolet Cars and Crossovers, “The Chevrolet Volt delivers not just a fun driving experience behind the wheel, but has become the first vehicle with plug-in electrification technology to truly become mainstream. Not only is the Volt a class-creator, it serves as the foundation of a Chevrolet electric family that will soon add the first long-range, affordable EV available to customers across the U.S., the Chevrolet Bolt EV.”

Chevrolet says that U.S. owners have the Volt have driven almost 1.5 billion miles in EV mode. When based on an average new car fuel economy rating of 25.3 miles per gallon, Chevy proclaims Volt owners have saved almost 58 million gallons of fuel. With the second-generation Volt, that figure should grow rapidly.

The new car not only looks better but it is almost 220 pounds lighter and has a 39 per cent greater EV range.

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