There was too much traffic on this thread related to my little blog post after my test drive. If I thought I had the sort of readership that I apparently have I might have spent more time on the review. Maybe I could have made it clearer what portion was fact and what was my emotional reaction to the car. I specifically do not contribute to discussions where I feel that a flame war is possible (see
XKCD), but I was invited to post and assured that this is a moderated, friendly discussion.
As an aside, in response to some of the thread: I never got to sit in an Aptera, and I loved the look of it so much I had to put down a deposit. If they had stuck to the original plan (essentially a motorcycle with an enclosed cabin for $20k), I might have wound up with one parked at the curb when it was just me or my older son heading for Philly cheese steaks. Then they changed the team at the top and started doing things like making the windows roll down. I wanted a plastic death trap, like my airplane (DA40, google images and see how it looks like an Aptera with wings, or since it came first the Aptera looks like a DA40 with the wings chopped off).
I just read that the Leaf will be AT&T and the Volt is Verizon. I have an iPhone. I hate AT&T. I guess the telematics don’t come into play that often, but that is an unfortunate choice of network.
(I should point out that my wife drives the electric cars. I research, test drive, and select them and she's the one that gets to drive them. She has had an EV1, EV1 GenII, and now a Rav4 Electric. She drives them and I do all of the whining to the customer service representatives (sorry, Chelsea). My wife has been driving pure electric for more than a decade and has 66,000 miles just on the Rav4. I have driven, since we've been together, a Yamaha Seca II, a Volvo 850 Turbo, a Toyota Sienna, VW Beetle, MINI Cooper and now my Toyota Prius. I squire the boys around and I would really like to be driving something electric most of the time. I loathed the necessity of the minivan and I am glad to be rid of it.)
The EV1 was rock solid. I mean, you could take it around a corner and it felt great even 20mph over the suggested speed on the orange sign. Though it was low slung it didn't feel like you were at risk. I know there are a lot of factors involved in creating that feeling. The EV1 did a good job at all of it.
The Rav4 was not as fun to drive. I don’t feel as in control of the trajectory of the car in the curves as I did with the EV1. I am very aware that the rigid chassis is not a safety feature. But it seats four, feels like it has a solid cage around the occupants, and since you are higher up there’s a sense that you are more easily seen by the SUV drivers that currently surround us. The batteries give it a lower center of gravity than the ICE version of the same car.
I’ve driven the Volt through one set of cones three times (at Dodger Stadium) and through a longer course another three times out at Milford. So, to be fair, I have had more time in it. But even the first time I sat in it I thought, “Well, it’s solid, and I feel protected, so those are two pluses.”
I am not a GM fan. I am probably the most skeptical member of the Customer Advisory Board. I did not like having our EV1 taken away from us and I believe there have been a number of very bad, even irresponsible decisions made at the company. But I also feel that it is important to give the Volt a fair shake, so that’s what I will be doing for my three month trial. If you want to see it torn down for ninety days of suburban driving, wander over to the web site (http://voltaday.com). I assume that the higher price is not for a product that is costing more to produce, but a necessity with the union workers, pension plan, and bankruptcy. I believe that the difference between an American car and Japanese car on the initial cost due to the union and pension factors is well-documented.
I tried to make it clear that my opinion from the test drive was very subjective. There are straight facts that really made me want to put my wife in a Tesla (she’s saved enough money on fuel over the years of pure EV driving to pay for one, the Rav4 would go for quite a bit on eBay still). But I sat in one and I know that she would never feel safe with her seat four inches off the tarmac. The Leaf feels similar to something like the Versa. When we have rented cars at that level (for short hops from an airport to a hotel I go cheap), she has noticed and pointed it out. I believe the same would be true for her driving the Leaf. We’ll see, because soon there will be some at the dealer and probably in the neighborhood and she can try one out. I would like to be pleasantly surprised and have her say she’ll trade her Rav4 for one. After my test drive, that wasn’t how I felt. It did not feel as solid in construction as the Volt or the Rav4, or even the Prius.
As I said in my post, I really want the Leaf to succeed. It is no longer as strong a contender to be in MY garage, but at this point there are so few choices that your mission really matters. (This is true of buying airplanes, too. You can talk all you want about the Cessna being a better plane than Piper, but if your hangar doesn’t fit a high wing plane, that doesn’t really matter.) But I would really like to see a LOT more EVs on the road.
When I got my Prius it had all the options. I brought it over to a friend’s house and let him drive it around a little. He’s a BMW guy, 7-series and was looking at a 5-series (since the kids no longer have the huge car seats). He really liked the Prius, but when I pressed him on whether he would order one instead of the BMW he said, “Not until Toyota comes out with a Lexus version of the Prius.”
I drove an Infinity G Sedan for eight hours or so this summer. A fantastic car. The fancy backup camera with the computer-drawn track that changes as you turn the wheel is astonishing. Everything is tight and hand-sewn feeling. Maybe that’s what I need in the Leaf. A model that’s $5k more and has that additional level of attention might make all the difference. I bet 50lbs of steel would make a huge difference.
But, in the end, my review is personal and still stands. The Leaf did not feel as solid or as safe as my Prius. When I get my hands on one for a longer test drive I will see if that changes and whether I can identify what it might be about it that made me feel that way. I really was hoping to just love the car so that if the Volt didn’t work I had a backup choice to run out and order. That’s no longer the case and I was disappointed about it.
If Nissan would like to start a CAB for the Leaf I’d sign up. (There was no contract signed with GM, so it’s not like I’m exclusive.)
--Colin
twitter: Voltaday
blog: http://voltaday.com
