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At its 100th anniversary celebration yesterday, General Motors revealed the car that it believes will save Detroit -- the Chevy Volt.  An electric car with a small gasoline engine that recharges its batteries, the Volt may be capable of travelling hundreds of miles per gallon.  Press reaction, though, has been mixed at best...and GM officials already find themselves defending the car's design.

Initial press reaction to the design was negative.   The production car differed radically from the angular Volt concept the press had been shown last year, and the initial reaction of most media outlets is that the changes are a disappointment.  CNN Money commented, "Many people posting comments on car blogs have expressed disappointment that the production car does not look as angular and aggressive as the original concept vehicle."

But the Volt seems to be growing on reporters who've seen it up close.  Kicking Tires writes, "When you consider that the whole point of the Volt is its function, its form isn't bad at all."  Though they do add, "the Volt isn't particularly distinctive - has GM learned nothing from the Prius?"

Autoblog says that unofficial photos revealed earlier "made the car look tall, wide and bloated," but "what we saw today was a far sleeker machine."

The production model even led the concept car in a reader poll on Autoblog Green as of this morning.

Just as writers and readers seem to be reconsidering the Volt, GM has addressed the criticism.  Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told Edmunds Inside Line, "The challenge to the designers wasn't to design the most beautiful car imaginable and accept the compromises you have to make to do so. It was, make no compromise to fuel efficiency and electric range, and then do the most beautiful design possible around those aerodynamic dictates."

GM is counting on buyers falling in love with the car -- but not necessarily at first sight.  Writing on GM's Fastlane Blog, Lutz commented, "While it's typically design that makes an emotional connection with buyers, in this case, the Volt is going to be bought for emotional reasons, but it will be for the emotion tied to the technology contained therein."