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Read the rest of this articleDrivers to buy 2010 Chevy Volt over 2010 Nissan LEAF?
GM has made it clear that moving forward, energy-efficient vehicles will be a focus. The only unfortunate part of that statement is its timing, as GM is coming to the game a bit late. The Chevy Volt is GM’s hype engine and way of re-connecting with consumers who are demanding better fuel efficiency. GM isn’t alone though, Nissan is also reacting to its customers’ needs with the Nissan LEAF all-electric car.
Thinking down the road toward your next car purchase, which model would you prefer? One analyst thinks that the Chevy' Volt’s popularity will outstrip the Nissan LEAF’s for a couple of logical reasons.
While the idea of complete independence from gasoline sounds alluring, energy has to come from somewhere. The next logical source is electricity because most consumers and businesses have ready access to it, right? Well, sort of. They may have access to electricity for appliances and lighting, but charging a car is an entirely different story because of its size.
Urban dwellers who live in apartments usually store their cars in parking garages or on the street where there is no readily available electrical outlet. In that case a purely electric vehicle like the Nissan LEAF becomes a tough sell. The Chevy Volt still accepts gasoline and so would still be an option for a typical urban lifestyle.
Of course, urban dwellers may opt for something like a 2010 Toyota Prius too unless they have eventual plans to gain access to an electrical outlet. Without a readily available charging station the Chevy Volt starts sounding a lot more like a standard hybrid car.
Right now there is no extensive charging infrastructure in the United States even close to the ubiquity of gas stations. That means longer trips are unlikely in a Nisaan LEAF while the Chevy Volt could easily still generate excellent mileage (compared to conventional combustion engines) using gasoline as its only energy source during travels.
In a sense, the Chevy Volt may be more popular than the Nissan LEAF simply because it’s backward compatible. After all, that same concept has been a major selling point for Microsoft’s Windows OS because its customers, just like GM and Nissan customers, just want their products to work.
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As someone that wants to buy a Leaf, my opinion is obviously biased. But here's why I think the Leaf will sell better.
The Volt is expected to cost substantially more than other hybrid cars. Thus, I don't think that your average driver that is just looking for a car that gets good gas mileage is likely to buy the Volt. I think both the Volt and the Leaf will appeal to a niche market of people that REALLY like the idea of electric powered cars. If the Leaf wasn't available, or if the Volt were significantly cheaper then I could see some of these people (e.g. Me) buying the Volt. But, with the volt expected to be more expensive, everything is in favor of us fanatics going with the more radical Leaf. Why would I want to pay more to drag an engine around that I won't use, and get only half the battery range?
I think the range limit of the Leaf is over hyped. I expect the Leaf to sell to families (or couples) that would have two cars anyway. Thus the buyer of the Leaf would already have another car available for longer trips. I've seen comments elsewhere saying that the Leaf is too expensive for a second car. The mistake with this reasoning is that the Leaf would be the "first car" -- the one you do all your normal daily driving in. The "second car" would be the one that you use occasionally when you need to make a longer trip.
Wow, I like the idea of a Leaf but man the 100 miles only radius is a bummer. WIsh it was 200 miles instead. And why can't they make a portable charger for you to take with you for longer trips ? decisions, decisions.
If the range is a concern I suggest keeping track of your normal driving to see how far you really drive in a day - I did this and was really surprised at how little I drive. Additionally, the car can be charged by a 110 outlet if necessary - it just takes longer than the 220 charger. I think that battery technology will continue to improve and that replacement batteries will be an option to improve range in the next couple of years.
The Volt and Leaf are just very different vehicles. I see the Volt, Leaf, and Prius as three broad classes of cars that each have their uses. The Volt is plug in hybrid which is a great transitional solution, but it is very expensive to build. The Leaf is a pure electric car which is the best long term solution, but right now it is almost as expensive and has limited range before slow recharging. If the Volt and Leaf perform as specified at the expected prices (Volt: $39k; Leaf $32k) they are not really cost competative with the Prius ($25k) without the tax credit. If gasoline prices go back above $4 and electric prices rise much less, then the plug-in cars may become competative. The real question is about future cost decreases in deep cycle batteries. I suspect they will not come down fast enough to make the Volt a major success. That said, I may still buy a Volt when it is available in the Northeastern US. If so, I would be viewing it as a cool new car that is pushing important technology forward and so it is worth paying a few thousand dollars more over its lifetime. I couldn't buy a Leaf...my wife wouldn't put up with having to decide in advance how far we might go in order to decide which car to take.
It's probably because the leaf is ugly as sin. End of story.
I would consider either car, but am not interested in the Prius or similar hybrids that can't rely on electricity exclusively. The Leaf would work very well for our family of three drivers and three cars, unless we needed my daughter to take it to college 300 miles away. I worry that Chevy/GM won't get the technology done before the Volt goes on sale and it will be another reliability disaster for which GM is infamous (I am old and haven't trusted a US brand car since the '70's). So the Leaf would be my first choice given that my wife commutes about 40 miles per day, and I drive less running carpools, grocery runs, etc. We would still have one or two other cars for long distance trips. Still, I bought a very nice new Hyundai Elantra in 08 for 13k that gets 35 mpg. It would be pretty hard to justify the cost diff even with tax benefits unless gas prices go up a lot.
To all of the naysayers..there are a lot of situations where it might make sense to buy a pure electric versus a gas/electric non-hybrid.
1) Environmental: you're still burning gas at (current) 3.50 per gallon. No-one has mentioned how many miles to the gallon in the Volt configuration (it would obviously be level, not city/hwy).
2) We have an SUV that we use for weekend travel.
3) My wife lives 35 miles away from work by freeway and the range she can get for the first 6 years is probably 70 miles each day without an additional re-charge.
4) Think of the money. The Volt costs 8K extra, it's an American car (which means any shortcuts to building the car that can be taken, will be taken) and at the price we are paying for an electric car, I would easily have to spend twice that price per month to have a gas car, even a Prius for her to drive to work. Its about 450.00 per month difference.
So what if the damned car is ugly. Not everyone drives an s600 mercedes, or a sports car, so who cares anyway. It gets you from A-B cheaply, cleanly, and it is pretty much maintenance-free, so what is the problem?
The problem is the complete lack of imagination from those people who are probably offended that their own country hasn't produced a viable electric car without being bludgeoned into it by a financial crisis, or the brutal reality of a global competitive environment. No way in hell would Ford, or GM, or Chrysler even be tabling an electric option without the fear of losing their shirt to Nissan or Toyota by not doing it, and further being forced by the US government to produce something viable by dangling the survival carrot of loans and guarantees paid by the "taxpayer".
I hope the Volt does well, but I wouldn't even consider it until it hits 10 years in production. However, Nissan tends to have a much better track record with new releases. Maybe it is a byproduct of integrity..something the Big Three don't seem to have a grip on properly.