This year’s Green Car of the Year® program was an exciting one, with the nominees including two hybrids, a high efficiency gasoline hatchback, and for the first time two electric cars.

And the winner? The 2011 Chevrolet Volt, which has just been named Green Car Journal’s 2011 Green Car of the Year® at the L.A. Auto Show. The L.A. Auto Show epitomizes car culture and, importantly, showcases the trends that continually shape our driving future. This is why Green Car Journal’s Green Car of the Year award is presented here every year.

Green Car of the Year® finalists included the Volt along with the Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, and Nissan LEAF – Green Car Journal’s Top 5 Green Cars for 2011. All raise the bar in environmental performance to such a degree they stand apart from their peers.

The Volt is an all-new type of electric car that offers extended range with electricity created by its on-board internal combustion generator. The Fiesta is a sporty, high efficiency gasoline internal combustion hatchback that achieves 40 mpg. Hyundai’s Sonata Hybrid is this brand’s first-ever hybrid, which features unique front and rear styling plus many high-end touches. The Lincoln MKZ Hybrid is an exciting, efficient, and fun-to-drive luxury car using Ford’s second-generation hybrid technology. Nissan’s LEAF is an all-new, high-tech battery electric car that provides 100 miles of zero-emission driving.

The Volt’s revolutionary Voltec propulsion system is capable of delivering 25 to 50 miles of all-electric driving on a single charge before a gasoline-powered on-board generator provides electricity to power the wheels for an additional 300 miles. This ability to allow extended electric drive range after the car’s batteries are exhausted is an important element that helps address the ‘range anxiety’ that some fear with battery-powered electric cars.

Green Car Journal turns to automotive and environmental experts to assist in the effort to identify the most worthy of these finalists – a car to be honored as the Green Car of the Year. Among these jurors are Carl Pope, chairman of the Sierra Club; Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of Ocean Futures Society, and Matt Petersen, president of Global Green USA. Also, Jay Leno, noted auto enthusiast and host of the ‘Tonight Show,’ as well as automotive icon Carroll Shelby, are on the 2011 Green Car of the Year jury. A smaller number of Green Car editors round out this jury.

As ballots were tallied, it became evident that a new chapter in ‘green’ cars was being written. This award welcomes a new genre of mass-production electric vehicles to the consumer market, with the Volt as the first-ever electric vehicle to take top prize. It has been a long time coming. The electric vehicles that were test marketed in the 1990s tantalized us, but were without a solid business case. What a difference a decade makes. Now, Chevrolet has stepped up with an all-encompassing package in its Volt extended range electric car – a car deserving of the title 2011 Green Car of the Year®.