Chris Woodyard, USA Today and Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press

Bolt promises to go 238 miles on a single charge.

Other finalists were Toyota Prius Prime, BMW 330e and Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid.

Motor Trend magazine also named the Bolt car of the year.

The Bolt is a finalist for North American Car of the Year.

LOS ANGELES — General Motors' long-range 2017 Chevrolet Bolt electric car was named Green Car of the Year Thursday at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The Bolt's 238-mile range on a fully charged battery approaches that of a Tesla. Yet the Bolt, in many cases, is about half the price. It will be priced at $37,495 and is due to go on sale by the end of the year. After tax incentives, Bolt prices will start just under $30,000 out the door.

“There’s been a lot of talk about building an affordable electric car with a 200-mile range that brings electric vehicles to the mainstream, but only one manufacturer has done that, and it’s us,” Chevrolet marketing manager Steve Majoros said.

It's the fourth triumph of the week for the audacious Chevy, which aims to steal the mantle of electric vehicle leadership from Tesla. The Bolt won Motor Trend magazine's car of the year award Monday, was named a finalist for North American Car of the Year Tuesday and made Car and Driver magazine's coveted 10 Best list Wednesday.

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Green Car of the Year honors the new car deemed most environmentally friendly. Chevrolet’s Volt plug-in hybrid won the award last year.

“We need to continually reshape people’s perception of Chevrolet,” Majoros said. “Everybody knows Chevrolet has historically been strong in trucks, SUVs and performance cars, but winning Green Car of the Year two years in a row says we’re not the General Motors and Chevrolet people thought they knew.”

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The Bolt is not to be confused with the Chevrolet Volt, itself a landmark vehicle as one of the first plug-in hybrids. The Volt is a two-time Green Car of the Year winner.

Other than Teslas, which can be bought with batteries good for up to about 300 miles of range, most electric cars have only been able to go about 100 miles or less before they needed to be recharged. That's worked fine for many commuters who follow the same path every day but was problematic for longer, unexpected trips because batteries generally take so long to charge.

"The new electric Bolt is a breakthrough vehicle," said Ron Cogan, publisher of the Green Car Journal, which offers the award. "I have been covering this for 20 years and 'range anxiety' has always been an issue. Suddenly, the Bolt at 238 miles of all electric driving...this car becomes a game changer."

It marks another victory for GM when it comes to electric power, which it pioneered in the 1990s with the Saturn EV1.

The Bolt beat four other finalists, all of which were plug-in hybrids. They were the Toyota Prius Prime, Kia Optima plug-in, BMW 330e Performance and the plug-in version of the Chrysler Pacifica minivan.

Contact Mark Phelan: mmphelan@freepress.com or 313-222-6731. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan.