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These are the five most ridiculous attacks on the Chevy Volt [w/videos]

It's been a long, strange trip for the Chevy Volt from the time when the now-odd-looking concept version (above) was introduced at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show to today. And now, General Motors announced that the second-generation Chevy Volt will make an appearance at the 2015 Detroit show in January. This debut represents a victory for GM with what has easily become the most politicized car of the 21st Century. There are plenty of reasons for someone to criticize the Volt, but what's amazing is just how much anti-Volt energy has been spent not on things like the styling or how the EREV setup is not as efficient as a pure-EV powertrain. As we wait for more official information on the new Volt, we thought it would be fun to go back and look at some of the most wildly incorrect reporting and strangest attacks on the Volt from the archives. There is so much good stuff out there, it was hard to pare the list down, but these are our five favorites. Amazingly, they're not all clips from Fox News. Check 'em out below. 5. GM Is Going To Stop Making The Chevy Volt In The US Do you remember when GM was about to move Volt production to China? Well, yeah, this was reported back in early 2012 when a GM executive mentioned that the automaker would get benefits of building the Volt in the places where it sells them. This was spun into a story of GM taking Obama bailout money and then running to China. The Blaze was not happy: "Given the fact that Federal government helped itself to millions and millions of taxpayer dollars under the pretense that it was going to combat high unemployment by creating 'green jobs,' it would seem that moving research and development (and possibly manufacturing) overseas is slightly, well, counterproductive." Well, of course, that never happened. There's no way to say that GM will never build a version of the Volt in China, but the news we hear rumors of these days is that GM is going to move production of more Volt parts (specifically, the motors) to Michigan from overseas. 4. The Chevy Volt Is A Fire Trap There has never been a Volt that just spontaneously lit up while driving down the road. Yes, there were Volts that caught on fire. Yes, that's a scary thing. But there has never been a Volt that just spontaneously lit up while driving down the road. These were crashed test vehicles with destroyed batteries and plugged-in vehicles that were not the cause.

Camaro-based Trans Am SE Bandit Edition borrows Burt Reynolds

For some reason, modifying modern Chevrolet Camaros into the lurching, reincarnated shells of the Pontiac brand is still a thing. If you're the perverse sort that likes this kind of thing, you should check out the latest product from the Trans Am Depot, which comes complete with an endorsement from the star of Smokey and the Bandit, Burt Reynolds. Yes, the new Trans Am SE Bandit Edition has been signed and endorsed by the man himself, but what's important here is not the signature on the dash, it's the bits of Camaro that have been modified. Aesthetically, that means a Bandit-and-Frog-approved set of T-tops, a front-opening hood with a very large, prominent shaker scoop, an equally large and prominent screaming chicken, and Trans Am-inspired front and rear fascias. And naturally, Burt Reynolds' signature adorns the dash. There are plenty of reminders in the cabin about this car's Hollywood inspiration, too. Bandit decals can be found on the front headrests and center console lid, there are chicken wings on the Camaro-spec plastic door inserts, and the black-and-tan color scheme matches nicely with the exterior look. And power? Well, Sheriff Buford T. Justice would have a lot more trouble keeping up with this Trans Am than he did with the original. The 7.4-liter LSX V8 has been paired with a 2.9-liter supercharger which is good for 840 horsepower. It's fast and loud, and even if you can't get behind the look (we can't), at least this Camaro-in-Trans Am's clothing can impress with its performance. The Bandit Edition is limited to just 77 units with prices starting around $115,000. You can check out the official video from Trans Am Depot, which comes with a decent helping of Burt Reynolds, up top. Related Video:

Nissan Leaf has outsold Chevy Volt by 50% so far in 2015

We know, we know. The Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf sales numbers for mid- to late-2015 aren't all that meaningful because of the impending arrival of the next-gen Volt and the expected but not-yet-totally-confirmed debut of the second version of the Leaf. Nonetheless, tracking the sales of the first two major plug-in vehicles is something that remains interesting to us, if for nothing else that the all-electric Leaf remains slightly more popular than the plug-in hybrid Volt after all this time. If we just look at August, the numbers were basically tied in the US. Chevy sold 1,380 Volts while Nissan moved 1,393 Leafs. But when we take a 10,000-foot view, the differences starts to appear. So far in 2015, GM has sold 8,315 Chevy Volts while Nissan has sold 12,383 Leafs. That means that the Nissan has outsold the Chevy by around 50 percent (to be specific, it's 48.92 percent). Since the two vehicles went on sale in the US at roughly the same time at the end of 2010, 81,672 Volts have been sold, compared to 84,705 Leafs. That's a difference of only 3,033 vehicles, so proponents of both powertrains can hold their heads high. Looking just at last month, Volt sales were 45 percent lower compared to August 2014. So far this year, Volt sales are down 36.7 percent. The Leaf didn't fare any better. Month-to-month, Leaf sales were down 43.7 percent in August, while year-to-date, Leaf sales are down 65.3 percent. Those second-gen models can't come soon enough. As always, we'll have our broader wrap-up of monthly green car sales for August up soon. Stay tuned. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales