GM says the early posting of Chevy Volt images to a company website was human error. Mistake or not, here’s the first look at GM’s highly anticipated plug-in.

General Motors has gotten pretty good at playing the PR game with its upcoming Chevy Volt electric vehicle, showing a flash of sheet metal here and few sketches there. It’s been something of an automotive strip tease as Volt enthusiasts eagerly await the car’s official debut, expected at GM’s centennial celebration next week.

So whether or not the brief posting of a production-ready Volt on a GM media information website Monday was actually an accident is probably debatable. Company official were quick to tell the Detroit News that it was all a terrible mistake. In any case, here we have it: clear shots of the Chevy Volt with members of its development team. It’s a pretty safe bet this is the Volt we’ll eventually see in dealer showrooms.

Chevy Volt concept car

How does a production-ready Volt compare to the concept versions we’ve seen in recent months? To be honest, it’s a bit less dramatic. The taut, roadster-inspired styling has yielded to more conventional — and probably aerodynamic — lines. The hood and front end are bulkier, and the trunk now looks as if it might actually be useful for carrying something. Most surprisingly, the Volt now appears to be a four-door.

It’s still a clean looking sedan, and will be heading to suburban driveways with some of its concept car DNA intact. But the production version looks — well — a bit more like a Prius.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Thanks to its sales dominance, the Prius has largely defined what the public thinks a “hyrbid” should look like. The Volt’s production form provides ample visual hinting that it’s no regular vehicle. And what really matters is the new technology packed away under the Volt’s sheet metal: a true plug-in drivetrain designed to yield 40 miles range in electric mode, and the equivalent of 50 MPG when cruising with its range-extender engine charging the batteries.

General Motors expects to begin full scale production of the Volt in late 2010, with the first cars making their way to dealers in time for the 2011 model year.

More Reading:

Production Chevy Volt photos leak out! (Autoblog Green)
2011 Chevrolet Volt: First Production Photos: (TheCarConnection.com)