Consumer Reports is out with a new report that says the most-loved car in America is the Chevrolet Volt. It's the second year in a row that the Volt, with its extended-range electric powertrain, scored highest in its annual owner-satisfaction survey. 
 
 The magazine asked subscribers if they would buy their same vehicle again, considering all factors (price, performance, reliability, comfort, enjoyment, etc.). Owners of 350,000 vehicles (more than 240 models in all) responded. In the case of Volt, 92 percent of owners said "definitely yes." 
 
 Is anyone really surprised with the outcome? (Well, maybe sports car fans who drive the Chevy Corvette or the Porsche 911, both of which were edged out by the Volt by one point.) 
 
 People who drive Volts are passionate about their choice of vehicle, and very vocal, too. So they take every opportunity they can to crow about how long it's been since they've pumped gas, or how many miles they got from their last charge. 
 
 They know the Volt Haters are out there - critics who believe that the Volt was dictated by the Obama Administration (it wasn't) or that General Motors is losing $49,000 on every Volt (it's not) or that sales have been a disaster (slower than planned, but not a disaster). So they feel compelled to jump to their car's defense anytime it is attacked. 
 
 To GM's credit, the Volt is indeed an engineering marvel. Though often called a plug-in hybrid, it's more accurately labeled an electric vehicle with extended range. All of the power that goes to the wheels comes from its electric motor. The 1.4-liter gasoline engine under the hood acts as a generator after the 16.5 kWh battery is depleted and feeds electricity back to the motor. Regenerative braking also recovers some energy to recharge the battery. 
 
 You can drive the Volt gas-free for about 35 miles, which is how loyalists with short commutes can boast that they've forgotten how to pump gas. The big advantage is that when you do need to drive farther, you've got a backup system that extends the car's range to 350 miles without recharging or buying gas. The switch from EV mode to gas-assisted is virtually impossible to detect, unless you're staring at the display on the high-tech touchscreen instead of watching the road. 
 
 That's not to say the Volt is perfect. 
 
 There are a few drawbacks -- the back seats are cramped, for instance, because of the huge T-shaped battery down the car's spine. And visibility's not great. Plus, despite the futuristic design of the center stack, the controls are not laid out very well. Forbes contributor Jason Fogelson recently reviewed the 2013 Volt and concluded it's not quite electrifying. 
 
 More important, though, it takes up to 16 hours to fully charge the Volt's lithium-ion battery on normal household current, which is simply too long. And people with older homes with outdated wiring have reported overloading their electrical circuits when trying to operate household appliances while the car was plugged in. 
 
 One solution, of course, is upgrading to a 240-volt power system, which would cut charging time to about four hours. But it would also cost up to $2,000 to install one in your garage. You'll have to factor that into your cost of ownership. 
 
 Which brings us to the real knock on the Volt: cost. At just under $40,000, it's a pricey compact car, even with all its advanced-tech features. The federal tax credit can reduce the price by up to $7,500, and various state and local tax incentives can further reduce it. But it will still take years to break even on the investment. 
 
 The best way to go, of course, is to lease a Volt, as my friends did recently. They got a steal on a loaded $44,000 Volt: $159 a month for 24 months, with no cash down (they used $3,000 in rewards from their GM credit card for a down payment). GM has been heavily subsidizing Volt lease deals lately -- $269 a month is the latest I saw --which it can afford because the Volt's expected residual value remains high. 
 
 No wonder Volt owners are satisfied. ||||| chevy-volt Chevy Volt tops most-loved car survey again 
 
 Nov. 29, 2012 at 11:19 AM ET 
 
 Chuck Burton / AP 
 
 General Motors' Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car topped Consumer Reports' annual owner-satisfaction survey for the second straight year. 
 
 
 
 Ninety-two percent of Volt owners surveyed by the influential consumer magazine said they would definitely buy the Volt again, earning the electric car the top ranking. Last year, 93 percent of respondents said they would buy the car again. 
 
 "The Volt's two-year reign at the top of our satisfaction survey points to the continuing trend of owners' enthusiasm for cars that are fuel-efficient, especially as we see more and more hybrid and electric models hitting the market," Consumer Reports' auto editor, Rik Paul, said in a statement. 
 
 The Volt, introduced in late 2010, has struggled with early soft sales, criticism from opponents of federal green-car tax credits, and a 2011 government probe of Volt battery fires that found no major problems. 
 
 Nevertheless, the Volt, which sells for just under $40,000 before a $7,500 federal tax credit, has a devoted following among those who brag about avoiding gas stations. The car can travel about 40 miles on an electric charge before the gasoline-powered engine kicks in for additional driving range. 
 
 In addition to the Volt, other fuel-efficient models that scored well in the Consumer Reports survey included the Toyota Camry Hybrid, Prius and Prius C, and the Nissan Leaf all-electric car. 
 
 On the other end of the spectrum, the redesigned Nissan Versa small car had the lowest score, with fewer than half of its owners saying they would definitely buy it again. Other low scorers included the V6-engine versions of GM's Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, and the Nissan Armada, Suzuki SX4 and Mitsubishi Outlander SUVs. 
 
 Consumer Reports said its survey received responses from owners of almost 350,000 vehicles spanning the 2010-2013 model years. 
 
 Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.
– Owners of Chevy Volts love their cars, as a new Consumer Reports survey makes clear. It's No. 1 in terms of owner satisfaction for the second straight year, with 92% saying they would buy one again, reports NBC News. "The Volt is indeed an engineering marvel," writes Joann Muller at Forbes, and some common knocks against it—that it was "dictated" by the Obama White House or that GM loses about $50,000 a car—are just flat-out wrong. Still, the Volt has problems, writes Muller: The back seats are cramped because of the battery, the controls are poorly laid out, and it takes way too long (16 hours) to charge on the typical household current. Upgrading to shorten that time is expensive. The big drawback, though, remains the $40,000 price for a compact car. Government tax credits and incentives help, "but it will still take years to break even on the investment." Read her full post here.