Quote:
Originally Posted by pinballlooking
Congratulations on the Volt.
I would love to hear you comparison/thoughts between the leaf and the Volt
We did 88 EV miles today with our Volt.
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The Volt opened our eyes to the viability of owning an EV. Like most Americans, we probably overestimated how much we actually drive. A few weeks with the Volt not using any gasoline was a true paradigm shift.
My expectations prior to driving the Volt were low. Econo-box offerings from GM have not had the best build quality. My intention was to test drive the thing and check it off my list. But, the Volt is so good that it won me over completely. Comfort, check. Torque, check. Nice amenities, check. This economy car is really a Cadillac in disguise. Good ride, good handling. Very impressed. So I bought one. No regrets.
The Leaf is a different animal. It's mission is different. It is a light, quick nimble street fighter. It's quicker than the Volt (which is impressive from 0-30) and more fun to drive. Both cars seem to lull the driver into a relaxed state that surely helps lower blood pressure in heavy traffic. The range is sufficient, but it is always in the back of your mind. A little more range would take this platform to another level. I can see these evolving into the next classic along the lines of the original VW bug.
When we travel together around town we take the Leaf 95% of the time. It's a great run-around, grocery getter, errand runner. It's also very comfortable. The seats are outstanding. My wife's previous car was a 2003 TDI. I could not drive it more than 10 minutes before the seats caused me discomfort.
We do worry a little more about the Leaf's battery life. With no cooling system it has had some issues in hotter climates. Using Leaf Spy I can see that our Leaf battery has 86% health left. Not bad at 27,500 miles. If it follows the postulated curve for Li-Ion chemistry in our climate, I believe the car will remain viable for our use for at least 5 more years. Ours has the ChadeMo quick charger, which makes emergency fill ups around town easy and fast. Around SLC there are 5 or 6 located in fairly convenient places.
I hope that was what you were asking for. The Leaf and the Volt are both quality offerings. We enjoy them both for different reasons and they compliment each other perfectly. The next step is to install solar so we can drive on the sun like you do!