chris1howell said:
There is no turbine-ish whine at all.
Well, I found there
was inverter whine whenever I floored it. (The white, non-performance version, at Fremont weekend.) And then it actually squealed a bit as the whine spun up. The squeal was kinda funny-cute.
Also, at 6'4", sitting in the back seat is definitely cramped. Much more headroom in the LEAF, front and back, but that's what you get with a low-sloping roof – particularly when there's a battery pack under the floor.
Even after the test drive, I'm still not sure I'll follow through with my reservation. (I'm in the 2700's. Probably due up in Nov.) The car is just so damn big on the outside, not my thing. It'll be a squeeze through my garage doors and on some of the narrow roads around Santa Cruz here, where sometimes there's no room for the white line. And in parking lots?! And you definitely feel the weight. Feels like a tank. A mighty fast, stable and pretty tank though. Of course, on the other hand, it will be a while before Tesla will be delivering their Gen III. As much as I like my LEAF, it's limited range and performance is... well... limiting. ;-)
Gimme a smaller Model S-like hatchback, designed more for efficiency, but still with over 200 miles range, sport handling/steering/performance and all wheel drive (to avoid the need for chains in the Sierra), please. Yeah, something like my old Audi A3, but electric. (Wish Audi wasn't dragging their heels so.)