General Motors' Chevrolet Bolt has been named North America’s Car of the Year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Monday, beating out two luxury sedans -- the Genesis G90 and the Volvo S90 -- the company said Tuesday.

The long-range electric is the first US-made, mass-market and fully-electric car. Not to be confused with the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in car with a backup gas engine, the Bolt is purely electric. 

The vehicle's starting price is roughly half that of the Genesis G90, which is estimated at around $69,050 for the luxury midsize sedan, while the Volvo S90 is listed at about $47,945 and is currently the only vehicle in the US with semi-autonomous driving technology as part of its standard package.

“The Bolt EV fulfills Chevrolet's promise to offer an affordable, long-range electric,” said Mark Reuss, executive vice president of GM’s global product development, in a press release.

“It is a game-changer that is not only a great electric vehicle; it’s a great vehicle — period,” he added.

GM Korea, the Korean unit of US auto firm General Motors and the country’s third-largest automaker, revealed that the new Chevy Bolt EV will begin exports to Korea this April.

The vehicle has a range-per-charge of roughly 383 kilometers on a single charge, roughly double most electric cars on the market today, with the exception of models by luxury EV carmaker Tesla. 

The Bolt’s single-charge 383 kilometers range is also far superior to its local electric rival, the Hyundai Ioniq EV, which runs 191 kilometers on a full charge. 

"Korea is the only global market outside the US where Chevrolet offers its complete range of electric vehicles: Malibu Hybrid, Volt EREV and Bolt EV," said Park Hae-ho of GM Korea's Product Communications to The Korea Herald. 

"And Korea is the first market except for North America where Chevrolet serves with the game-changing Bolt EV," Park added, noting that Korean EV customers will most likely be swayed by the total value package of the Bolt, from its long-range driving capabilities to its state-of-art IT technologies and the crossover styling.

Chevy’s upcoming Bolt EV‘s launch is expected to add a spark to the county’s auto market, where the number of electric vehicles is virtually non-existent, making up a meager 0.1 percent of the newly registered vehicles from last year.

With the launch of the new Bolt, GM Korea stands to offer the largest number of environmentally friendly vehicles in the country. The American carmaker was also the only non-domestic carmaker to penetrate Korea’s Top 10 best-selling car list last year with its Chevy Spark compact car.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)