LAS VEGAS—Yesterday at CES Chevrolet formally unveiled the Bolt, its new, battery-powered electric vehicle. But the Bolt wasn't the only EV that the company brought to Las Vegas. Joining the pre-production prototypes at the little test track it laid on for journalists were a pair of Volts—plug-in hybrid EVs that are now on their second generation. We got our first drive of the new Volt back in October of last year when Tiffany Kelly checked it out in the Bay Area, but as the cars were on hand, taking a second look (and the opportunity to drive it a bit) seemed like a wise idea.

The first-generation Volt taught Chevrolet quite a lot about electric vehicles, and its enthusiastic fan base provided the company with a lot of feedback that has been incorporated into the new car. The interior is much-improved, as is the powertrain, which is both lighter and more powerful than before. The car combines an electric motor and 18.4 kWh battery with a 1.5L direct-injection gasoline engine that exists mainly to charge the batteries but which also sends power to the front wheels when it makes sense to do so.

Like its purely electric cousin, the Volt has two different driving modes—D and L—and the latter increases the amount of regenerative braking on offer to allow you to drive the car with a single pedal. On the confines of the tight little track laid out off the Las Vegas strip, that proved quite effective, although as Andrew Farah (the car's chief engineer) pointed out, in stop-and-go traffic you'd probably want to use the brake pedal too.

We're still planning on taking an extended look at the car in the coming months, but in the meantime, enjoy the video!

Listing image by Jonathan Gitlin