The Bolt beat the Genesis G90 and Volvo S90 to claim the honor, which was announced by the North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year jury on their Twitter account.
The vehicle is GM's first mass-market electric car, and has already won the Motor Trend Car of the Year award in November and the Green Car of the Year award at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
The Bolt EV.
The Bolt is estimated to go 238 miles on a single charge, and with a retail price of around $30,000 after tax breaks is less than half the price of the Tesla Model S and Model X -- the only other cars sold in the US that go more than 200 miles on a charge.
The first of the Bolts were sold in California last month, with a national roll-out expected to happen later this year.
The Chrysler Pacifica won the Utility Vehicle of the Year, beating the Mazda CX-9 and Jaguar F-Pace, while the Honda Ridgeline pickup won Truck of the Year, beating the Ford F-Series Super Duty and the Nissan Titan.
The car, truck and utility of the year awards are given to new or significantly redesigned vehicles at the Detroit Auto Show by a panel of media auto critics.
