Test drove a Volt and Leaf back to back today...

[hingisfan]

My wife and I test drove a 2013 Volt today, immediately followed by a 2012 Leaf.

I have researched both vehicles heavily, and driven the Leaf before, but not the Volt. My wife has driven neither and knows little about both.

We get to our local GM dealership and see 2 Volts outside by their charging station. We go into the dealership and all the sales guys are busy, but they have another one in the showroom, so we check it out while we are waiting. I sit in the driver seat and right away I notice the windshield and door mirrors are not very tall at all, and my visibility out the front seems tight from a height perspective. I don't say anything to my wife as I want to get her actual reaction from both cars.

Finally a sales guy comes over and gets us setup. He informs us of the "standard route" to take for the test drive. I ask "why does it matter where we go?" He replies that it's a nice short route with a mix of city and highway and they don't want us to go further so they can keep the mileage down on the demos. (Really? You should be ecstatic that we are interested in this car at all, and telling us to take it as long as we want!) FYI, I hate my GM dealership and never go there unless I absolutely have to!

So, we head out on the "recommended" route. I drive first. Car has nice smooth pickup, handles great, love the steering wheel they chose, LCD screens are very nice, but the sight lines are terrible. Short windshield and big pillars in the front corners. I also don't find it noticeably faster than the Leaf. I was expecting it to be faster.

We switch halfway and right away my wife complains about the low windshield right away as well, but likes the drive as well. I am 6'2" and she is 5'8".

On to Nissan and I let her drive first as I have already driven the Leaf. Right away she can't believe how much bigger it feels inside. She says the Volt felt like she was being compressed. She floors it and zig-zags through city traffic. This is faster she says. No I say, the Volt is actually supposed to be faster. (I made sure we were on Normal mode in the Volt and Drive in the Leaf.) She still insists the Leaf felt quicker.

So, we both ruled out the Volt right away due to the visibility issues. I will say I liked the drive and handling just as much as the Leaf, and the Info systems seem more sophisticated, although you have to click through screens to get to volume control, where the Leaf has it available at all times. I am almost glad we didn't care for the Volt, as I REALLY hate that dealership. The service department is horrible, and the sales guy we had today seemed arrogant.

Just my thoughts from today, still crunching numbers to see if it makes sense to get the Leaf at this time. Also, waiting on pricing for Canada for the 2013. Why does it take so long for Canada? And why do we always get screwed for pricing? Arg. Bye for now!

 

[mhigley]

My wife said the same things about the Volt. It felt small inside.

My wife loves our LEAF and it's starting to become a problem. At first it was my car but with each passing day she takes it more and more.

Good luck in your quest!

 

[MrIanB]

Tested a volt a couple of weeks ago and getting in and out the back seat is not fun. Drove car for 3 miles on electric and it was quiet w smooth transition to gas as it had 3 ev miles left. Now, here is where the test drive went south. The engine sound was too loud to my liking and ended the test drive. The mgr asked about ride and I explained my view and left. They are not willing to negotiate more than the 2k available when I went. I guess if I decide to buy, will have to fly somewhere to buy and drive back.

Ian B

 

[Volusiano]

I owned a LEAF for 1.5 years before selling it back to Nissan (due to battery capacity heat issue in AZ), then I bought a Volt (which has liquid cooling for the battery).

I share the same feeling about the Volt feeling not as spacious inside. After all, it's only a 4-seater. And visibility all around is not as good. Another observation is that the rear seats seems to feel much lower than the LEAF. Maybe because the windows are situated higher, or the seats are situated lower, or a combination of both. Taller people may be OK with this, but shorter people like the LEAF higher rear seats more.

One thing I must say is that the seats on the Volt are much more firm and therefore more comfortable on longer drives. I've done a 6 hour drive between AZ and CA on the Volt and didn't develop butt sore. But on the LEAF, within about 15 minute, I already get butt sore even though the LEAF seats are softer. Softer may seem like it's better, but it actually has less support.

Handling in terms of zippyness is about the same. I don't know why MrIanB experienced too loud engine sound. Maybe it was put into mountain mode which forces the engine to work extra hard to not only provide enough charge to propel the car, but also to charge up the battery to prepare for mountain driving. I've owned the Volt for 1.5 months now and the transition from electric to engine is seamless in my car and hardly noticeable, even at lower speed. The engine is very quiet at lower speed.

I think the most important deciding factor between the Volt or LEAF is whether you need the extended range option the Volt offers or not, or whether liquid cooling/heating of the battery is important to you or not depending on where you live. Sure, 5-seat vs 4-seat is important, too, if you don't think 4-seat is adequate for your need. Then of course the price difference that comes with the extended range option.

 

[surfingslovak]

I guess if I decide to buy, will have to fly somewhere to buy and drive back.

As it happens, I just received an email from my local GM dealer. Completely out of the blue. It's the same place that offered $27K trade-in for my LEAF in November 2011 (I declined). If you were seriously considering a Volt, it might be worth getting a GM card. They often run promos, and top off the earnings on the card. This could turn into additional $1K or $2K savings. For the LEAF, I believe that VPP pricing is the way to go, if you can qualify. Unless, of course, there were large manufacturer rebates like we saw with 2012 LEAFs.


Click to open

 

[Elephanthead]

The deal breaker for me was when the GM sales lady told me to leave my garage door open because the volt had to run the engine to warm up the cabin. :roll: I might as well buy a Prius. The interior was also identical to my 8 year old Pontiac. No navigation on the cheap on anymore either. I prefer my little golf cart affectionately called leafy the overpriced versa.

 

[scottf200]

The deal breaker for me was when the GM sales lady told me to leave my garage door open because the volt had to run the engine to warm up the cabin. :roll: I might as well buy a Prius. The interior was also identical to my 8 year old Pontiac. No navigation on the cheap on anymore either.

I've never seen it. As well there is a 2013 option where it will make sure it doesn't run the ICE plugged in.

Many are a fan of the more cockpit feel of the Volt. LEAF is obviously more utilitarian which also gives you the outside looks it has.

 

[jspearman]

I had the Leaf and am driving a Volt now, and I agree that the visibility is way worse in the Volt. Driving the Leaf is like sitting in a fish tank. I really enjoy the Volt, but I imagine my next car will be the Tesla Bluestar or whatever they want to call it in two years. Tesla has knowledgeable salespeople/geniuses who love the car...Chevy, not so much. I hope Tesla wins all the battles against car dealers and shifts the model of car sales and service.

 

[shikataganai]

I completely agree with the commenters above regarding the Volt's lack of outward visibility. Visibility is a big pet peeve of mine, and the Volt was completely ruled out after my test drive.

Here's an excerpt from my review of it, relevant part bolded:

It looks sharp, I'll grant it that. Hearing nothing but the faint electric motor whine when the dealer pulled it out of the garage was very cool, too. (For those of you familiar with Toyota hybrids, it sounded a bit like the high-frequency whine that the HSD makes when regenerating.)

Then I hopped in. Although it's a small car, based on the Cruze, it felt big enough inside in the front seats: plenty of legroom and headroom alike. The ergonomics were all fine, too, apart from the shifter being oddly smack dab in the center of the dashboard and the parking brake being this little, weenie electronic deal. The dashboard was unconventional, too, with a central, squareish LCD display, a "floating ball" to show power consumption/regeneration on the right, and a battery state-of-charge indicator on the left. Didn't look bad overall at all, however, and the center console, in grey in this particular car rather than the iPod-white of the showcars, was pleasant enough as well.

Similarly pleasant was the powertrain part of the driving experience: despite a nominal curb weight of 3800 lbs it didn't feel heavy. In fact it had a bit of a kick, with a nice shove in the back on throttle tip in, no doubt thanks to electric motors' max-torque-at-0-rpm characteristic. My entire, brief test drive was spent in EV-only mode so I can't comment on how raucous the engine is or isn't.

All was not fun and games, however: the A-pillars are mammoth and the roofline low. It doesn't feel airy at all in the interior. Its ambience, if you will, is actually more similar to a sporty car like a current-gen Mustang, in that the roof feels pulled down tight. The front valence scrapes pulling out of driveways. The rear legroom is fine but headroom, thanks to the sloping aero-friendly roofline, is tight. There's no rear center seat: this is a strictly 4 passenger vehicle.

 

[Cheezmo]

You said you made sure you were in Normal mode in the Volt and Drive in the Leaf?

Normal is equivalent to "Eco" mode in the Leaf.
Sport is equivalent to Drive.

If you put it in Sport, I'm sure your wife (and you) would have a had a much different impression as to which felt faster.

The Leaf defaults to the faster feeling mode which I prefer, you have to change it every time you get into the Volt which is a bit of a pain.

 

[Volusiano]

The deal breaker for me was when the GM sales lady told me to leave my garage door open because the volt had to run the engine to warm up the cabin. :roll: I might as well buy a Prius.

Unless this was a sarcastic remark aimed at ignorant GM sales people, you shouldn't believe everything they say because they don't know a lot of things. It shouldn't be a deal breaker that you decide not to buy a car because of ignorant sales people. In this day and age you can learn everything about the car of your interest on the internet now. You can do your own research before going into the show room and not have to rely on sales people for basic information. I only use the show room to check out/test drive a car in person and negotiate deals. I take sales people's words with a grain of salt.

 

[JeffN]

Did you realize that the seat height is adjustable in the Volt? That might improve some of the visibility concerns if a previous person had adjusted to a low setting. On the other hand, I agree that the front pillars in the Volt are a bit of a visibility problem. I have to take extra care to make sure they aren't blocking my vision of pedestrians since they are relatively wide. In spite of that, the Volt works very well for me.

 

[mazdaboi]

Coming from a previous LEAF and moving to the VOLT the only reason I did this was for 1...my commute changed and did not have access even to L1 110V charging at my government facility but 2 in Virginia EV's are exempt from personal property tax and the LEAF was a LEASE which does not equal my car so its NOT exempt...the extra $2800 over 3 years was too much for me especially since its money just thrown away. So i went with the VOLT....since I'm still a strong GREEEN advocate and had all the EV equipment like cables, adapters and the L2 BLINK EVSE... the VOLT was the only other logical choice. Don't get me wrong, wife was not on par with getting an EV in the first place....but she soon took ownership and threw me with a gas guzzler...We both loved and still love the LEAF in every way. Simple, no maintenance and a no brainer when it comes to true cost to own with savings added in. Would I of kept the LEAF if my commute didn't change...YES absolutely. Would I of gotten a 2013 LEAF if they were guaranteed to get over 100miles....YES absolutely. I may pick up one in a few years as the 2011's and 2012's start coming off LEASES as turn-ins and hitting the used market. But for now I had to get the VOLT. Wife is missing the LEAF more than me right now as for the first time in 6months she is paying for gas again.... LOL But I only burn .9gal of gas every day with my 75mile RT commute.

All depends on your commute and with the new '13's able to charge at around 6.6kWh...Thats a bigggg Plus.

Blind spots between the cars are night and day...get a backup camera in the VOLT (i got a base and miss that small function) but I dont miss the seat heaters...I only used them to offset the heater usage in the LEAF.

Test drive both again to make a good decision, but you cant go wrong with either....

 

[hingisfan]

Yes I should have put the Volt in Sport mode to try that out.....but we were both so put off by the visibility we pretty much ruled it out.

Maybe I'll test drive it again another day and see if I can get over it.

What I do like about the Volt is obviously the no range factor, and that the batteries are much more likely to produce a similar EV range after extended use.

Pricing here in Canada sucks though, as the 2013 Volt sits at 42k BEFORE taxes, freight, etc.

2013 Leaf pricing has not yet been announced....we are hoping to not be too much higher than US pricing!

 

[Volusiano]

Did you realize that the seat height is adjustable in the Volt? That might improve some of the visibility concerns if a previous person had adjusted to a low setting. On the other hand, I agree that the front pillars in the Volt are a bit of a visibility problem. I have to take extra care to make sure they aren't blocking my vision of pedestrians since they are relatively wide. In spite of that, the Volt works very well for me.

I know I can adjust the front seat height on the Volt, but the rear seats are not height adjustable as far as I know. It's the rear seats that my wife complains about being low.

 

[Volusiano]

but we were both so put off by the visibility we pretty much ruled it out!

The visibility is not as good as the LEAF, but if you get the rear camera, it would remove it as a big concern anymore. Visibility moving forward is not that bad.

 

[Valdemar]

Speaking of front visibility in the Leaf, there is one pretty bad blind spot at the base of driver-side A-pillar. I literally had to slam on the brakes hard at least a couple of times already when a pedestrian appeared right in front of the car out of nowhere. Fortunately the speed was low. It may have something to do with me having to set the seat all the way back because I'm tall - 6'4". Sometimes on the approach to the intersection the driver-side A-pillar can hide a pedestrian as they start crossing from left to right and keep him/her hidden as they cross the road as the car is moving on the collision course. This really freaked me out. I'm more careful now but I just can't get rid of the thought that it is an accident waiting to happen.

 

[JeffN]

I know I can adjust the front seat height on the Volt, but the rear seats are not height adjustable as far as I know. It's the rear seats that my wife complains about being low.

The Volt rear seats may seem low by comparison because the LEAF has unusually high rear seats, I think.

 

[RegGuheert]

The Volt rear seats may seem low by comparison because the LEAF has unusually high rear seats, I think.

Still, our children hated the seats in the Volt but love the seats in the LEAF. I think they want to be able to see out!

 

[KillaWhat]

Why does it take so long for Canada? And why do we always get screwed for pricing? Arg. Bye for now!

It's payback for all those years of clogging up our machines with your funky quarters :lol: :lol:

I know I can adjust the front seat height on the Volt,

It's the ceiling height that cannot be adjusted!