2016 Chevy Volt spy shots highlight the much-needed fixes

It's the only passenger car sold by General Motors that hasn't been recalled this year. It's the only small car sold today with a "Top Safety Pick +" award from the leading insurance crash tests. Many of its owners travel 800 miles or more between stops at gas stations, and most surveys rank those buyers as the happiest of any GM vehicle.

And yet, the Chevrolet Volt still draws general dismissal from the public at large, thanks to a combination of failed promises and political sniping. Underneath this mottle of vinyl wrap lies the next-generation 2016 Chevy Volt due to be revealed in a few months — and even beyond the camouflage, you can glimpse the steps GM will take to push the Volt into the mainstream.

GM once forecast that it would be selling 60,000 Volts a year by now. Through August, Americans had bought only 13,146 — down 12 percent year over year in a market that's up overall. While still the top-selling plug-in hybrid, the Volt now moves fewer copies than the all-electric Nissan Leaf and its 84-mile range.