If all had gone to plan, you’d have read this article five months ago. After a short ride in Chevrolet’s new Volt at CES, I was curious to see how the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle fared on the day-to-day grind. There’s only so much you can learn on a few laps of a test track in Las Vegas, after all. Matching—or even bettering—the published economy figures during carefully managed events is one thing, but would the car live up to the promise of a triple-digit MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) in practice, away from the PR people?

The second generation Volt has benefited greatly from Chevy’s experience with the first car. Plenty of weight was taken out of the car, including the battery pack and motor/generator unit (MGU). It’s quieter and the interior quality is a step up. It’s even more parsimonious energy-wise; the official EPA numbers are 106MPGe (and 42MPG on gasoline) compared to 98MPGe (and 37MPG) for the first-gen Volt.