Article dated 12/31/10: The first two Chevrolet Volt electric cars were picked up by their owners this past week at Radley Chevrolet in Fredericksburg...The dealership on Jefferson Davis Highway in Fredericksburg is one of a few Chevrolet dealerships in the United States authorized to sell the electric Volt, since the dealership agreed to train key sales staff and repair staff on the vehicle’s specifications, install a electric vehicle charging station, and purchase tools for the Volt.

In addition to the metropolitan Washington D.C. market, the Volt is being sold at select dealerships in California, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Texas. Radley Chevrolet has fielded calls from interested buyers as far away as Florida, said Jonathan Pittman, general manager at Radley Chevrolet.

The first owner to collect their Volt on Wednesday was publicity shy, so Thursday night I spoke with the second owners to pick-up their pre-ordered Volt, Nick and Wendy Sours of Portsmouth, Va. They drove two hours from home Thursday night to pick it up at 8 p.m.

Nick Sours, a structural engineer, first saw the Volt three years ago at the Virginia Motor Trend International Auto Show and was intrigued.

“I thought that it was just the coolest-looking thing,” Nick Sours said. “And when they actually said they were going to produce them, I jumped on the bandwagon. I put a deposit down, never test driving, seeing, nothing.”

“Which is not like him at all. He plans everything,” Wendy Sours said.

Nick is even reluctant to shop online, unless he’s touched and held the item he’s buying first, he said.

“For me, this was a leap of faith,” Sours said.

Nick’s commute contributed to the decision to switch to the Volt from his Volkswagen Passat. He drives only 8-10 miles in each direction between work and home, but because of traffic in a tunnel, the trip can stretch to 45 minutes, each way.

In his Volt, he hopes to commute using only an electric charge and no gasoline. The Volt’s electric charge can carry the car up to about 40 miles, then a gasoline-powered engine kicks in to carry the car for total range of about 375 miles, according to Chevrolet.

Sours made a deposit for the Volt in July with Radley Chevrolet, still never having driven the car. In October, Sours was invited by GM to take a Volt on a test drive through an obstacle course in Washington, D.C. Nick said the instant he sat behind the wheel, he knew he’d made the right choice. “I was just amazed. It really blew my expectations away, to be honest …When you put it in sports mode, it’s just like driving her Nissan Maxima,” Nick said, referring to his wife’s car. “It really has some get up and go. I was really impressed. At that point I knew I’d made a good decision.”

Last night, the Sours took their silver Volt on a test drive around Fredericksburg before returning to the dealership to wrap up paperwork. “It was more than I expected, to be honest. Really, it drives like a regular car, other than there’s no noise,” Sours said.

GM’s personal attention throughout the process was impressive, the Sours said.  The couple was assigned two GM Volt advisers that called them almost daily to update them on their car’s status, and arranged a home assessment looking at their electricity needs for a home charging station. GM put Sours in touch with SPX Service Solutions, a company that installs home charging stations for the Volt.

While each Volt automatically comes with a plug that can go into any 120V outlet, which is in most homes, it takes the car 8 to 10 hours to re-charge at that rate. The Sours opted to install a 240V home charging station in their garage, so the Volt can re-charge in 4 hours.

The couple said their decision to buy a Volt initially drew lots of questions from friends and family. “Confusion” seemed to be primary reaction, Nick Sours said. Wendy worried the car could stall in traffic when it ran out of electric power.

Nick became a one-man ambassador for the Volt, explaining how the gasoline engine automatically kicks in, Wendy said.

“He’s like, ‘You don’t get stranded. Let me explain.’ I think he knows the car backwards and forwards. I told him he could sell it,” Wendy said.

With more Volt commercials running on television, and extensive news coverage, now everyone is excited to see the car, Nick said. He doesn’t anticipate any problems remembering to charge the car — after all, he always charges his cell phone.

“I would definitely recommend it to family, friends … I think once they get behind the wheel people will realize it drives just like a regular car. I think GM could’ve gone all space-age and made it look abstract or something, but they didn’t. They kept it looking like a regular car.”

No doubt they attracted a lot of attention driving it home on Interstate 95 and Interstate 64. The Sours drove away with one of the first 300 Chevrolet Volts to hit the highway in the U.S.