Chevy Volt's $41,000 price puts it in a league of its own

2011 Chevrolet Volt - Click above for high-res image gallery

The 2011 Chevrolet Volt is an award-winning vehicle, taking this year's North American Car of the Year title, the Motor Trend Car of the Year, Automobile of the Year, Green Car of the Year and the Detroit Free Press' Car of the Year title. Given these awards, it would seem as though General Motors' range-extended electric is a vehicle worthy of your hard-earned cash, but some are saying that, with a price tag of $41,000, the Volt's appeal may be limited.

The Volt's window sticker places it into a sort of competition with vehicles like the Acura TL, BMW 3-Series, Cadillac CTS, Lexus' ES 350, HS 250h, Lincoln MKS and Volvo S80. All of the aforementioned autos slot in the near-luxury category, but the Volt does not. It's a compact sedan without any intentions of being luxurious, even if it does have a lot of fancy features. So, is it likely that consumers looking for something in the $40,000-plus price range will consider the Volt a worthy competitor to the near-luxury vehicles listed above? Probably not. There are issues here that don't just involve the MSRP, though, including tax credits and people who are willing to put their money into a cleaner powertrain and not really givin a rip about a 17th touch screen for back seat riders. Volt is an innovative auto that can appeal to buyers intrigued by its impressive engineering and exceptional fuel economy numbers. Will it do so in large numbers once the early adopters get theirs? That's the real question.