Volt vs. Leaf - What finally pushed you to the Leaf?

[Deleted member 8423]

From other threads, I know that some of you were evaluating the Volt before you landed on the Leaf. Don't know how tough that decision was for you, but I'm having a hard time with it.

What tipped the scales in favor of the Leaf for you? Something the Leaf had that the Volt didn't? Something that the Leaf could do that the Volt couldn't? Something that drove you away from the Volt?

Or did it just come down to something that you can't really quantify?

 

[DaveEV]

In order of priority:

1. Interior space (rear seats simply don't have enough room compared to the LEAF)
2. Price (especially since when I bought my LEAF the Volt didn't qualify for the California state rebate due to it's high emission)
3. Fuel economy in range extended mode (after owning a Prius I expect 45 mpg+ for it's replacement)

 

[EVDRIVER]

Dragging along a gas engine.

 

[evnow]

I'd be using gas regularly on weekends. I didn't want that.

Besides, why do we need more than one ICE in the garage ?

 

[Shaka]

Same as replies above. No need for TWO gas-powered cars. And why haul around a gas motor I didn't need? We average over 800 miles per month on our LEAF the remaining driving then goes to the SUV for long trips hauling, or bad weather. This works out great for us!

 

[garsh]

I have a 60-mile round-trip commute. The Volt can't do that electric-only.

I also didn't want the extra maintenance of a gasoline engine.

 

[Leaf1]

I needed room for 5. It is sad that a nice car like the Volt cannot even be considered by anyone that may need 5 seats from time to time.

 

[Levenkay]

The Volt was about $10K more expensive, originally.

It was my perception that there weren't any Volts ready for sale in my area at the time I purchased a LEAF off the lot (July 2011).

The Volt was described as a "series hybrid", which I took to mean that it had to carry, not only an ICE, but also a second electrical machine with the same power rating as the main electric motor. And I knew that the electric motor was already a spendy item, dependent on a bunch of exotic magnetic materials.

I had a misconception that the Volt's extra ICE would make it a significantly heavier vehicle, and I didn't like the prospect of all that dead weight (turns out that the LEAF's larger battery weighs about the same as the Volt's engine)

Didn't like the extra mechanical complexity of the Volt.

 

[ebill3]

Not much of a decision for me - I just wanted a totally electric car. Now I have two, and no ICE. Never again going to a gas station, except maybe to air up the tires or use the John.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I have a 60-mile round-trip commute. The Volt can't do that electric-only.

I also didn't want the extra maintenance of a gasoline engine.

Me too. The Volt did not meet my range needs, and ultimately, neither did the LEAF.

 

[keydiver]

I needed room for 5. It is sad that a nice car like the Volt cannot even be considered by anyone that may need 5 seats from time to time.

Same here. I occasionally need to fit 5 adults in the LEAF.

 

[Nubo]

When I'm tired of something, I'm completely tired of it. Back in 1993, I think, our tape-based answering machine bit the dust; I recall it was the third machine in 6 months. Tired of el-cheapo equipment, I talked to AT&T about answering machines. The nice lady asked "Do you want a machine with one tape, or two"?

I replied "What I really want is a machine with NO TAPES AT ALL"!

Well, as it so happened they had JUST come out with such a thing. It only had 20 minutes of record time, but I was instantly in love.

The same way with LEAF.

 

[adric22]

At the time, back in 2011, the Volt was considerably more expensive than the Leaf and the lease prices hadn't dropped down like they are now. I would have probably gone for a Volt to begin with if the really cheap lease rates had been available back then. Of course, now we have a Volt too and the sad part is our car payment on the Leaf is actually $100 more per month than the Volt.

Of course we love both of the cars so no regrets.

 

[kubel]

40 miles wasn't enough. I would be burning gas every day. Then GM decided to turn the Volt from a series hybrid into a parallel hybrid. When Nissan dropped the money factor on the lease, that was enough for me to jump on the LEAF.

 

[planet4ever]

In late 2009 and early 2010 I was gung ho for the Volt, and only signed up for the LEAF in April as a fallback plan. Then I sat in a Volt and in a LEAF. The LEAF felt spacious. The Volt felt cramped and busy, like an airplane cockpit. Getting into and out of the Volt was hard on my ancient bones. Well, I thought, I can make compromises with comfort if I have to. Then we learned that the Volt had a gimmicky transmission with a bunch of different modes and several clutches. What happened to the simple series machine I was expecting? Next came the news that CS mode efficiency was not nearly as good as our Prius. And that the Volt MSRP was considerably higher than the LEAF. But the straw that broke this camel's back was the email I got from my Chevy dealer in the summer of 2010 saying that due to demand they would be charging $7.5k over MSRP.

Either car would have been all-electric for the miles I drive most days, and we wouldn't really have had to keep the Prius had we gone with the Volt, so from a purely utilitarian viewpoint the Volt would probably have made more sense. But my wife feels better having "her car", and I know I'm more comfortable in the LEAF than I would have been in the Volt.

Ray

 

[camasleaf]

Not much of a decision for me - I just wanted a totally electric car. Now I have two, and no ICE. Never again going to a gas station, except maybe to air up the tires or use the John.

Same here. I did all the maintenance on the ICE cars we had, I just did not want to deal with them anymore.

 

[smkettner]

Volt gas engine is too large(try sub 850cc), battery is too small(want more electric range), and the transmission too complex(maybe a dog clutch to only use gas on the highway).

 

[IBELEAF]

For me it's the opposite. i thought I wanted all electric and quickly dismissed Volt as an option, so I got Leaf. Later my excitement dissipated when I learned that my real world driving wasn't giving me the desired results. Got Volt and couldn't be happier. I thought lack of 5th would be a problem, but during 7 month ownership it was a problem only once, where with Leaf I had to deal with "not enough range to get there" at least once per month.

 

[Volusiano]

For me it's the opposite. i thought I wanted all electric and quickly dismissed Volt as an option, so I got Leaf. Later my excitement dissipated when I learned that my real world driving wasn't giving me the desired results. Got Volt and couldn't be happier. I thought lack of 5th would be a problem, but during 7 month ownership it was a problem only once, where with Leaf I had to deal with "not enough range to get there" at least once per month.

I went through the same experience. I got rid of my LEAF because of the AZ heat issue, then bought a Volt with pretty good discount so it's not that much more than LEAF. In hindsight now, I would have picked the Volt over the LEAF even if the LEAF has TMS. Why?

1. LEAF has too much range limitation.
2. Maintenance on Volt ICE is not as bad as previously thought due to it not being the primary engine. Oil change every 2 years is not bad. No timing belt change needed. Transmission fluid change at 100K is not that often.
3. I can get about 50 miles out of Volt easily. Sure, I can get more out of LEAF, but not like double more at 100 miles as originally advertised. Volt seems to over deliver on their range while LEAF seems to under deliver. Gap narrows due to this, especially when you take into account the 80% charging almost required for LEAF but not at all required for Volt because the buffer is already built in for advertised Volt range but not built in for advertised LEAF range.
4. I can take Volt on long trip. Sure, I have another ICE car, but nowhere as fuel efficient as the Volt.

 

[Publius]

The LEAF's range works for me, so why would I want a gasoline engine?