California residents who bought Chevy Volts thinking their electric car would grant them access to the state’s HOV lanes without a passenger, a privilege available to Nissan Leaf buyers and some owners of the hybrid cars, were probably disappointed to find out that the Volt’s emissions are too high for HOV access.

Chevy has decided to solve that problem.  A special California-only Volt will be built that emits less toxic emissions than the standard Volt and qualifies for the green sticker that allows single passenger vehicles into HOV lanes.  That sticker also comes with a $1,500 rebate from the state of California.

According to Autoweek, Chevrolet sold 7,671 Volts last year compared to 9,674 Nissan Leaf sales.  The Leaf is already approved for single occupant use in the Golden State’s HOV lanes.  If you’re currently making the rational assumption that other factors like price (the Leaf’s $27,700 price tag after tax rebates is significantly lower than the Volt’s $31,645 post-rebate price), 60% of all Leaf sales were to California.

The Low Emissions Volt won’t be available outside of California, so if you’re dead set on having the cleanest car possible, you’ll have to make an appointment with a dealer in Cali and drive the Volt home.  If you’re in the northern part of the country right now dealing with the winter weather, SoCal is probably looking pretty good.