Nissan Leaf ($25k, 100m Range, 100% Electric) VS. Chevy Volt?

Gallardo-esque. I like it, but none of these cars are really taking off.

For the Volt, no one wants to pay $40k for something with a plastic interior that looks like a Cavy. At least this upcoming one looks the part.

Hmm… I guess the NPLC isn’t a fan:

Jalopnik said this recently:

We’ve learned from Nissan today that it sold 1,362 Leafs in the United States in August alone… Chevy sold an anemic 302 Volts in August…

… to meet its target of 10,000 retail sales for 2011, and prove to many critics that the Obama administration-backed public dollar-financed bankruptcy was a success, GM will need to sell about 1,700 Volts a month starting right now. That’s about 65 a day for every day its dealers are open, versus the 11 a day it managed in August — for a $40,000 small car in an economy where consumers appear to be more nervous about spending than they’ve been in years.

For all its taunting of the all-electric Leaf for the range anxiety that comes from potentially being left stranded without a charge, it appears it’s Chevy that’s now facing a different kind of anxiety — sales anxiety.

Maybe the Caddy version will sell on looks alone, but we’ll see.

I highly doubt that interior styling is the reason they are not selling. If interior styling was ever the reason that so many people DIDN’T buy GM cars, they would have gone bankrupt long before 2008.

Nissan has had my money($99) for over a year and they have never contacted me as to when I can pick mine up. lol The dealers seem to know nothing about these cars either.

Funny, since GM keeps claiming no one is buying them since there is no supply:

Volts inventory now stands at 1,361 units, up from the 226 reported at the end of July. GM says that some 700 to 800 of the 1,361 plug-in hybrids are dealer demonstration units that, at least for now, can’t be sold. If Ward’s numbers are correct, that leaves almost a two-month supply (based on Aug 302 number) of Volts sitting on dealer lots.

GM = Government Messup

So the Volt’s battery can cause a fire after an accident. An investigation has been started, but in the mean time some people want GM to buy the cars back:

General Motors Co. said Monday a “couple dozen” Chevrolet Volt owners have asked the Detroit automaker to repurchase their extended-range electric vehicles in the face of a federal safety investigation into fires after crash-testing.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20111205/AUTO01/112050420/1148/GM-says-‘couple-dozen’-Volt-owners-seek-repurchase-after-fire-tests

I’ve seen a few Volts around here. Haven’t seen a Leaf yet.

Lithium battery fires are serious business too.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lQVO9-Xjf84/Sh8IsGiLs5I/AAAAAAAABBU/LrZb1zTZEZE/s400/amc_gremlin_1974.jpg

What bothers me is the same government that was instrumental in pushing the Volt out to the public and wanting it to succeed is now responsible for the investigation into the fires. Conflict of interest much?

Jalopnik asked the same question:

Did feds delay public disclosure of Chevy Volt fire risk to protect GM sales?

Conflict of interest? Never saw that coming.

In a month or so Nissan Canada will be setting up a charging station for a Leaf in my parents home, my Father will be driving a demo around for a while as… a joke I said, coming from a full size maxima… but yah - should be neat, lots of torque on demand, the company he works for has already sold $800,000 in electric diagnostic scan tools to Nissan specifically for this car.

it is still a mind fuck for me that the generator in the volt is gas… have you EVER gone to a job site and saw it littered with gas powered generators? NO they are diesel. The fucked up thing is a high boost 2 cylinder 1L diesel generator could probably run that car with no problem. start it up apply max power and charge it up. That is the ideal situation for a diesel engine. naaa fuck it consumers are horrified of diesel put a gas engine in it instead.

edit: I am not at all a fan of the leaf. When I hear a rated max range of 100miles it makes me think you will probably get closer to 40 when you turn your heat/A/C and radio on. That will be AWESOME when you get stuck in a traffic jam for a hour in the winter and your shit dies because you are trying to run a electric space heater inside so you can keep ice off your window… I guess we will see how it goes as winter rolls around.

Limited range plus limited availability of diesel could pose a problem. If you’re not near a highway most stations don’t carry it.

I owned a diesel car for over three years driving a total of nearly 70,000 miles. There was not one single instance of me having trouble finding fuel. Not only are interstates littered with diesel pumps, but just about every town as a few stations that carry diesel fuel.

this was taken when one died in the street (in cali) a while ago - they had it all over the place at the plant the other day


http://www.ridelust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Nissan_Leaf_RC_Nismo.jpg