If you’re old enough to remember the gas crisis of the 1970s, you’re probably old enough to remember some of the econo-boxes it inspired — dinky, rattly little things that offered solid fuel economy at the expense of physical and mental comfort. Getting one up to highway speed took Herculean effort, not to mention nerves of steel. [...]

Let’s get this out of the way right up front: the 2012 Chevrolet Volt is a stunner. Haters may gripe about the price (we’ll get to that in a minute), or they can complain about the loans that Chevy’s parent company, General Motors, received from the Bush and Obama administrations in 2008-09 (been there, done that, get over it). But there is absolutely no denying that the Volt is an amazing ride. [...]