Consumer Reports - EV Haters?

[kovalb]

What is up with Consumers Reports? First they give the Chevy Volt a score of only 67 (dismal) and now they give the LEAF a score of only 78 (good, but not great). They gave the Prius an 80. My question is... in what world is the Prius better than the LEAF?

They also dissed the LEAF's handling as "not agile" and listed "high-pitched whine" as a low; I don't know anyone who has complained about the LEAF's motor sound. I just don't know what is up with those guys? Are they down on EVs? Maybe just ignorant, as implied by their charging time complaint?

Here's their summary:
Highs: Running costs, ride, instant power delivery, quietness, access, turning circle.
Lows: Limited range, long charging times, high-pitched whine, no telescoping wheel, agility.

 

[EVDRIVER]

The got "not agile" right. Telescoping steering wheel, who cares? If they wanted to bitch they should have used the NAV system or voice commands.

 

[smkettner]

CR should stay out of rating cars, ALL cars. JMHO.

 

[waitingforaleaf]

I don't know anyone who has complained about the LEAF's motor sound.

When I'm tired or otherwise sensitive, I can sense the Leaf's motor sound and it can be a bit disorienting over a long enough period of time (>15 minutes) IF that's the only sound I'm hearing. Since I largely drive with the radio on, the minimal sound generated by the Leaf does not have any effect on me.

In their comparison between Leaf, Volt, and Prius, Motor Trend did a short analysis of the sounds generated by the three cars and plotted it ( http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1108_2011_chevrolet_volt_vs_2011_nissan_leaf_vs_2011_toyota_prius_comparison/viewall.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ). Seems like some people are bothered by the high frequency sounds generated by the Leaf, while others are not.

In any case, I've found consumer reports to be fairly inaccurate with their reviews on multiple products (ie. refrigerators, washer & dryers, air purifiers, etc.). I CERTAINLY wouldn't depend on them much with regards to their reviews of automobiles.

 

[TRONZ]

CR will always take a very pragmatic view of whatever (appliance) they are looking at. It's kinda like asking a nerd what sort of girl they like. You just know a high rank in WOW will be essential. It's all good, but probably not the sort of girl qualities I'm thinking of. To each his own.

 

[hill]

CR gives ratings like Jeromy Clarkson ... or Road and Track. If you can't burn through $100 of gas in a 20 minute drive ... and dive into hairpin corners, they don't wana hear about it.

 

[cdub]

CR gives ratings like Jeromy Clarkson ... or Road and Track. If you can't burn through $100 of gas in a 20 minute drive ... and dive into hairpin corners, they don't wana hear about it.

That's unfair. The car does have a high pitched whine when accelerating hard uphill. You can't hear it if the radio's on.

I can see them marking it down for it's low range. Remember they're in CT... electricity rates are high and it has colder weather.

I trust consumer reports. Don't always follow what they say... but I know their heart is in the right place.

 

[kevin672]

While I haven't read the article, the summary of High's and Low's you posted sounds right on to me. The car is good, but it's not great. All of the complaints except the telescoping steering wheel are right on, as well as the their compliments. If you step back and take an honest, objective look at the car I think you'll find that their analysis is pretty accurate. It's difficult for us to do because we're such fans of the car and the concept in general.

 

[TRONZ]

It's difficult for us to do because we're such fans of the car and the concept in general.

Yes, there is a big difference between measuring a cars trunk and appreciating what the LEAF means to society. CR is not in the business of providing new understanding of cars. CR takes objective measurements of products and then ranks them. Ex: 48" trunk is bigger than 46" trunk so is therefor "better".

 

[Drivesolo]

While I haven't read the article, the summary of High's and Low's you posted sounds right on to me. The car is good, but it's not great. All of the complaints except the telescoping steering wheel are right on, as well as the their compliments. If you step back and take an honest, objective look at the car I think you'll find that their analysis is pretty accurate. It's difficult for us to do because we're such fans of the car and the concept in general.

+1, well said.

The comparison that CR makes is to other existing fuel efficient cars. Considering it made it to mid-pack by being the world's first mass produced EV is quite an achievement. I say "Well done.". If CR were trying to "hate" on the Leaf, they could have ranked it lower by focusing on the instance where they only received 60 miles from a charge where as everything else (because they're ICE) would go substantially further.

 

[kovalb]

It seems that Consumer Reports are not haters, but I would say they are ignorant about a number of things EV, and their ratings are not always justified. I guess their ratings for other vehicles could be called into question as well. They just had a few comments that bugged the heck out of me.

1) "Routine Handling: The Leaf handles soundly but it's not agile. Turn-in response is prompt enough but the steering is devoid of feedback."
Although I agree with most of what they say I do not know how they can say the LEAF is "not agile" when "turn-in response is prompt". To me that is almost the definition of agile.

2) "Leaf's main drawbacks are... long recharge times."
I do not know whether the got the CHAdeMO quick charge port, but they never made mention of that capability anywhere that I saw. Plus, if they understood how EVs are typically used, by far most of the charging is done overnight so taking 6 or 8 hours is no big deal.

3) Lows: ...high-pitched whine... "A muted high pitch whistle was irritating to some drivers, although our noise meter couldn't capture it. "
It seems that if it bothered one or two people it should have been relegated to just the comments section, not raised a low point of the car. LEAF is the quietest EV I've ever driven. Maybe if they spent more time with the car and given it a chance they would have got used to the mild whine. But they did say something nice "Wide-open throttle noise measurements were the lowest of any vehicle we've tested."

I was just very disappointed they did not rate it higher than the Prius. Which I do not consider to be anywhere as nice and pleasant a vehicle to drive as the LEAF.

 

[waitingforaleaf]

It seems that Consumer Reports are not haters, but I would say they are ignorant about a number of things EV, and their ratings are not always justified. I guess their ratings for other vehicles could be called into question as well. They just had a few comments that bugged the heck out of me.

1) "Routine Handling: The Leaf handles soundly but it's not agile. Turn-in response is prompt enough but the steering is devoid of feedback."
Although I agree with most of what they say I do not know how they can say the LEAF is "not agile" when "turn-in response is prompt". To me that is almost the definition of agile.

2) "Leaf's main drawbacks are... long recharge times."
I do not know whether the got the CHAdeMO quick charge port, but they never made mention of that capability anywhere that I saw. Plus, if they understood how EVs are typically used, by far most of the charging is done overnight so taking 6 or 8 hours is no big deal.

3) Lows: ...high-pitched whine... "A muted high pitch whistle was irritating to some drivers, although our noise meter couldn't capture it. "
It seems that if it bothered one or two people it should have been relegated to just the comments section, not raised a low point of the car. LEAF is the quietest EV I've ever driven. Maybe if they spent more time with the car and given it a chance they would have got used to the mild whine. But they did say something nice "Wide-open throttle noise measurements were the lowest of any vehicle we've tested."

I was just very disappointed they did not rate it higher than the Prius. Which I do not consider to be anywhere as nice and pleasant a vehicle to drive as the LEAF.

As much as I dislike Consumer Reports' evaluation for multiple appliances, their arguments with regards to the Leaf are quite fair (though their ending overall score is likely skewed by their preferences).

1. Compared to mid-sized sedans that I've driven before, the Leaf is definitely NOT agile. On clover entrances and exits in the freeway, I've felt uncomfortable driving the car as quickly as I have my previous vehicles. The lack of feedback is somewhat troubling (though the Prius was certainly no better than the Leaf in this regard).

2. While ChaDemo MAY alleviate range anxiety in the future (if it gets deployed where you're located), at the time of review the Leaf is definitely hampered by a short driving range and long recharge times (eg. 7 hours on L2). At the current moment without ChaDemo stations, it's not feasible that I drive somewhere 75 miles away (eg. San Francisco to Santa Cruz for a day trip) and expect to be able to come home after charging a few hours while I'm at my destination. While I, as an owner, agree that this may not be a common trip, without ChaDemo implementation, it is certainly a major detraction for single-car owners.

3. I don't believe that it bothers only "1 or 2 people," and if you hear it, there's no "getting used to it" either. I know many drivers that DON'T listen to music while driving and if the Leaf's noise affects even 10% of drivers, then I believe that it should be listed as a potential detraction (despite the fact that the car is otherwise one of the quietest vehicles people have driven).

So while I can understand your disappointment with the scoring they gave the Leaf, I would largely concur with their conclusions in pros and cons.

 

[pjoseph]

.."felt like a toy i always wanted"

Quote from this forum. Very upbeat article.

 

[kovalb]

.."felt like a toy i always wanted"

Quote from this forum. Very upbeat article.

+1

 

[SanDust]

I don't believe that it bothers only "1 or 2 people," and if you hear it, there's no "getting used to it" either.

I hear the whine. I'm surprised not everyone does. And yeah it's annoying. But compared to a Prius the Leaf is a library vault. If the Leaf was half as noisy as a Prius you couldn't hear the whine because it would be drowned out by all the other noise. The Leaf is probably as quiet as a BMW 5 series. Seems absurd that you penalize a car which is so quiet for a noise which your equipment can't detect but not a car so loud that you can't hold a conversation without straining your voice.

I will say that whenever I know a great deal about a product the CR reviews appear ridiculous so maybe this is just par for the course.

 

[dpodoll]

.."felt like a toy i always wanted"

Quote from this forum. Very upbeat article.

+1

+2

 

[Yodrak]

I agree with those who support CR's objectivity. I always look at CRs reviews of products before I buy. But I do not always buy what CR recommends or avoid what CR does not recommend. What's important to me is sometimes different from what CR thinks is important, but at least I know what I'm going to get after having read a CR review.

 

[davewill]

Seems about right. If you were comparing the LEAF to other similar sized vehicles and were not factoring the fact that it's an EV as a huge positive on it's own, you'd have to score it pretty low. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that having the first commercially available EV (LEAF v1.0) score that high is actually quite an accomplishment.

 

[charlie1300]

Just like any other product review, you need to evaluate how much the review's ranking criteria matches your own criteria. I've felt that CR has always made their ranking criteria clear, so that makes their reviews useful to me, even if I have different criteria. I re-arrange their rankings in my own mind, and I appreciate the data they provide that allows me to do that.

 

[SanDust]

Seems about right. If you were comparing the LEAF to other similar sized vehicles and were not factoring the fact that it's an EV as a huge positive on it's own, you'd have to score it pretty low.

There are certain intrinsic properties of an EV that you can't disconnect from the fact that it's an EV per se. If you ignore how quiet it is and how smooth it is and how quick it is off the line and how stable it is on the highway then, yes, I'd agree I'd give it lower marks! :lol: