Motor Trend comparison article on the Leaf, Volt and Prius

[TomT]

The August 2011 issue of Motor Trend has a very detailed article comparing the Leaf, Volt and Prius. It is generally well done and covers a very wide range of information on charging, CO2, performance, ride and drive, usage, and even a spectrograph of the interior noise of each vehicle. Interestingly, two of their testers complained of the high frequency type sound that some on this board have commented on, and the spectrograph definitely bore that out...

Most disappointing to me was that either the Prius or the Volt beat out the Leaf in almost every performance category. Both beat it in 45-65 passing, quarter mile, 60-0 braking, lateral acceleration, figure eight, 0-60, 0-70, 0-80 and 0-90. The only thing that the Leaf beat anything on was the Volt in 0-30 and the Prius in 0-40 and 0-50. So, I think we can stop saying that the Leaf is fast... They also said that it handled like a bowl of creem wheat and they hated the (lack of) steering feel... Still, they did say that the Leaf was "astonishingly well executed."

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

its sad that the only thing that is important to most people is how quickly they can move from one stop light to another.

 

[TomT]

The article covered MUCH more than just that. In fact, such data was almost an after-thought in the article.... I simply snipped that data out since many of this board seem to be obsessed with such things...

However, I DO think that things like handling and braking performance ARE important as they are key components of active safety.

its sad that the only thing that is important to most people is how quickly they can move from one stop light to another.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

comparing two cars with a gas tank to one with no gas tank just isn't apples to apples, IMHO. The LEAF is the real deal, pure EV. Both the Volt and the Prius can afford to have more muscle because they just don't need to make the electricity go the extra miles.
g

 

[DaveEV]

its sad that the only thing that is important to most people is how quickly they can move from one stop light to another.

And with speed limits of 30 mph the LEAF will win that race against both the Volt/Prius and will beat the Prius all the way up to 50 mph. So the LEAF is definitely decently quick off the line but not fast and will beat many unsuspecting cars in stop-light races to the speed limit.

There's only so much 80 kW (107 hp) can do when up against the 110 kW Volt (147hp) and 134 hp of the Prius.

 

[TomT]

There is no such thing as the perfect vehicle... For many, a pure EV simply won't work for them, particularly if they only have one vehicle.

Frankly, if my wife and I could only have one vehicle, it couldn't be a Leaf....

comparing two cars with a gas tank to one with no gas tank just isn't apples to apples, IMHO. The LEAF is the real deal, pure EV. Both the Volt and the Prius can afford to have more muscle because they just don't need to make the electricity go the extra miles.
g

 

[TomT]

0 to 30 mph:

Volt: 3.2 (Motor Trend)
Leaf: 3.1
Prius: 3.0

Since I have one, here are some comparison figures for the Acura MDX:

0 - 30 (sec): 2.7 (Car and Driver)
0 - 45 (sec): 4.7

And my motorcycle:

0 - 60: 3.2 (cycle world)

its sad that the only thing that is important to most people is how quickly they can move from one stop light to another.

And with speed limits of 30 mph the LEAF will win that race against both the Volt/Prius and will beat the Prius all the way up to 50 mph. So the LEAF is definitely decently quick off the line but not fast and will beat many unsuspecting cars in stop-light races to the speed limit.

There's only so much 80 kW (107 hp) can do when up against the 110 kW Volt (147hp) and 134 hp of the Prius.

 

[DaveEV]

0 to 30 mph:

Volt: 3.2
Leaf: 3.1
Prius: 3.0

How does the Prius beat the LEAF to 30 mph but loses to 40 and 50 mph?

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

I agree and I'm not saying the Prius and Volt don't have their place, I just don't think they are comparable vehicles to the LEAF. The LEAF for now, as a production Pure EV, is in a class of it's own.
g

There is no such thing as the perfect vehicle... For many, a pure EV simply won't work for them, particularly if they only have one vehicle.

Frankly, if my wife and I could only have one vehicle, it couldn't be a Leaf....

comparing two cars with a gas tank to one with no gas tank just isn't apples to apples, IMHO. The LEAF is the real deal, pure EV. Both the Volt and the Prius can afford to have more muscle because they just don't need to make the electricity go the extra miles.
g

 

[TomT]

Probably the way the electric motor and the gas engine are blended... The difference between the Prius and Leaf at 40 and 50 is only 0.1 seconds, however, and a dead heat at 60... Above 60 the Prius pulls further and further away of course.

0 to 30 mph:

Volt: 3.2
Leaf: 3.1
Prius: 3.0

How does the Prius beat the LEAF to 30 mph but loses to 40 and 50 mph?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

ever since Motor Trend made the 2004 Prius COTY and then started backtracking a bit due to negative feedback, i have pretty much ignored what they have said.

they basically have a history reporting on a niche of the automotive experience and is one i no longer have interest in. but then again, i also not interested in Atari, 8-tracks, Betamax or 360 tape drives either.

their attempts to adjust their writing to modern times still seems slip back to their old high octane ways but then again, most of the country remains clueless which is why i guess Motor Trend still survives

 

[TomT]

I basically agree and have never been a big fan of MT, but this article was fairly well done and balanced. It is one of the more in-depth such articles I have seen in a mainstream automotive publication to date...

ever since Motor Trend made the 2004 Prius COTY and then started backtracking a bit due to negative feedback, i have pretty much ignored what they have said.

 

[LEAFfan]

There is no such thing as the perfect vehicle... For many, a pure EV simply won't work for them, particularly if they only have one vehicle.
Frankly, if my wife and I could only have one vehicle, it couldn't be a Leaf....

A pure EV may not work for them right now, but I guarantee you as soon as the DC quick chargers get installed (Q3-4,2011 here (BP and Cracker Barrel) and off the Interstates), it will surely become our Primary vehicle. Already, my wife has saved hundreds of dollars by using the LEAF instead of her Corolla.

 

[TomT]

Having to stop for 30 minutes every 70 miles or so just will not be palatable (or feasible) for some. And I think it is going to be a lot longer than many of us would like before we see any significant network of QCs here in southern California... Then there is still the unanswered question of just how many times you can QC in one day...

A pure EV may not work for them right now, but I guarantee you as soon as the DC quick chargers get installed (Q3-4,2011 here (BP and Cracker Barrel) and off the Interstates), it will surely become our Primary vehicle. Already, my wife has saved hundreds of dollars by using the LEAF instead of her Corolla.

 

[LEAFfan]

Having to stop for 30 minutes every 70 miles or so just will not be palatable (or feasible) for some. And I think it is going to be a lot longer than many of us would like before we see any significant network of QCs here in southern California... Then there is still the unanswered question of just how many times you can QC in one day...

A pure EV may not work for them right now, but I guarantee you as soon as the DC quick chargers get installed (Q3-4,2011 here (BP and Cracker Barrel) and off the Interstates), it will surely become our Primary vehicle. Already, my wife has saved hundreds of dollars by using the LEAF instead of her Corolla.

I plan on stopping for about 15-20 mins.(80% charge) and I'll love it because after an hour and a half of driving (55-60 not 70), I will need a break to stretch, go to the restroom, etc.
I believe we will find that 1-6 times a day will not degrade the battery pack. Brendan Jones said these were extensively tested for DC quick charging up to 8 years of similar use and there was no degradation up to 6 times a day. I also asked my LEAF tech and he agreed. We will see if this is supported when we get a report from those Dutch people who drove over 800 miles in 24 hours. I don't remember how many times they QCd, but it had to be at least 6 times or more.

 

[DaveEV]

Having to stop for 30 minutes every 70 miles or so just will not be palatable (or feasible) for some. And I think it is going to be a lot longer than many of us would like before we see any significant network of QCs here in southern California... Then there is still the unanswered question of just how many times you can QC in one day...

I could see doing it 1-2x a day, but many more times than that could get annoying unless you have a lot of time on your hands.

 

[LEAFfan]

I could see doing it 1-2x a day, but many more times than that could get annoying unless you have a lot of time on your hands.

Traveling to SD or L.A. would have me probably doing 3 QCs. That would be absolutely doable for me. I don't like sitting so long and driving without frequent breaks anyway. I like to stretch my legs and take restroom breaks. Being in AZ, I drink LOTS of water.

 

[surfingslovak]

I believe we will find that 1-6 times a day will not degrade the battery pack. Brendan Jones said these were extensively tested for DC quick charging up to 8 years of similar use and there was no degradation up to 6 times a day. I also asked my LEAF tech and he agreed. We will see if this is supported when we get a report from those Dutch people who drove over 800 miles in 24 hours. I don't remember how many times they QCd, but it had to be at least 6 times or more.

Oh, it looks like the Dutch guys QCd ~20 times, which certainly is a lot.

The stations were just off the highway. So we charged as frequently as we could. The charging stations were about 40-70 km apart, so we charged almost 20 times.

 

[Herm]

and they probably have no idea if they suffered any battery degradation.. sort of taking a cell out and cycling it with a calibrated load.

 

[Herm]

The August 2011 issue of Motor Trend has a very detailed article comparing the Leaf, Volt and Prius.

Here is the link:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1108_2011_chevrolet_volt_vs_2011_nissan_leaf_vs_2011_toyota_prius_comparison/index.html

Lots of high frequency motor whine:

"THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
As we walked into the house after a day of cruising around in the Leaf, my wife said, "I've got to lie down, my ears are ringing." Daughter Catherine said, "Me, too," and went over to the piano and struck a very high key. "Pinggg"-yep, that was just about what I was still hearing as well "

a 2012 Versa review:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/1104_2012_nissan_versa_sedan_look/index.html