2011 Nissan Leaf vs 2011 Chevy Volt: Strengths & Weaknesses, By The Man Who Owns Both

[msirach]

First hand owner's thoughts of the Leaf & Volt

George Parrott - GREENCARREPORTS - March 08, 2011

A second owner of both the Leaf and Volt reveals his initial impressions. Overall mpg on the Volt is at 107 mpg at 2300 miles. How many others have purchased the Leaf and Volt like Parrott and Ed Begley Jr.? --Ed.

Many comments are appearing on the internet taking enthusiastic positions for either the new 2011 Chevy Volt or the 2011 Nissan Leaf.
It seems most readers are in one "camp" or the other.

In our household, after studying the technical strengths and features of both cars as they moved from concept to production, I ended up ordering...one of each!

We had been driving a 2006 Toyota Prius and a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid, enjoying the technology and economy of those designs since mid-2006. Our Prius had around 64,000 miles and the Camry Hybrid had just 40,000, so we didn't need to replace them. But I enjoy new "toys," and cars are almost the ultimate consumer toy.

Our 2011 Volt arrived on January 13, delivered to our house by the Chevy dealer in Fairfield, California, 40 miles from our home. I couldn't find a closer dealer who would sell the Volt at MSRP and order it with the configuration that I wanted. We now have 2300 miles on the Volt, including two road trips of 200 to 300 miles, and considerable general driving.

Our computed overall gas mileage is right at 107 mpg, which is way better than even the newest Prius might achieve. The Volt has been a true attention-getter in parking lots, and hardly a trip goes by that someone does not remark on it.

The ride and interior is more European than Japanese or Detroit in feel, and the dual display screens are almost hypnotic. The seats are quite comfortable and the optional heating is nice on cold mornings; the range of height adjustment for shorter drivers is much better on the Volt than the Leaf. The GPS mapping appears totally up to date, and the Onstar feature and traffic updates work incredibly well. In the Sacramento metropolitan area, we got the Coulomb chargepoint and installation free with a DOE/Volt program.... [Read More]

[ksstathead]

made a post requesting the real efficiency numbers...

...which turn out to be 288 to 320 wh/mile CD and 38-40 mpg CS.

[phoebeisis]

The Volt gets 1 mile per 300 watt hrs?~40 mpg? So he gets better than the other test that was posted here recently? the other test showed 350 watts per mile and about 34 mpg.
I think it was compared to a Plug in Prius 47 mpg and 225 watts hrs per mile.

[herm]

what would a hypermiler get?

[ksstathead]

The fellow is in Sacramento, so the weather is not especially cold, though often wet.

For all I know he is a hypermiler, herm.

[WriConsult]

Our computed overall gas mileage is right at 107 MPG

I CALL BS!

This guy isn't giving an equivalent mpg figure for the Leaf, which means he isn't "computing" the true energy mileage. He's only counting the GAS! I bet I could get near 1000 "mpg" in my daily driving with the Volt, because I hardly ever have to drive more than 40 miles in a day and would almost always run off battery power. In other words, "mpg" is meaningless on a car like this unless it's mpgE.

And now I see GM's secret weapon: since most people don't have the ability to measure the amount of electricity dumped into their battery packs, and wouldn't have a CLUE how to calculate mpgE even if they did, everyone with a Volt is going to report that their mpg is "way better" than the window sticker (which of course is in mpgE, not mpgG). All the average Leaf owner is going to be able to talk about is range.

[dr61]

As Mr. Parrott explains, he does not have to pay for electricity since he is using excess capacity from his solar PV system to power his Volt along with gasoline on occasion. So for him 107 mpg of gasoline is correct.

[ksstathead]

No it is not correct. He would otherwise have sold the excess to the utility and it would have done other work. The electric energy is not free to him or to the world.

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by ksstathead

No it is not correct. He would otherwise have sold the excess to the utility and it would have done other work. The electric energy is not free to him or to the world.

Hmm.

On the basis of individual consumption he could tell the world to shove it as long as he's in credit and doesn't make any pretension to being a helpful generator.

However, that reduces the efficiency aspect of his post to "All I know is that I don't use much gas any more" which isn't very informative.

[dr61]

My utility has not yet begun buying our excess PV generated energy; not sure about his. So If I had a plug-in my excess would be at NO additional cost to me (about 1000 kwh per year).