Nearly a month into my long-term test of the 2013 Chevrolet Volt, I’m starting to get a feel for its similarities and differences with the Nissan Leaf, which I drove for the last half of 2012.
Actually, it’s my children who seem to have the strongest opinions so far, and each, ages 10 and 12, prefer the Leaf. They like the Nissan’s exterior and interior better; they like its rear heated seats; they like the fact it has a navigation system and they like its name better than Volt.
What they don’t like about the Volt is the above shortcomings, along with the fact the Volt’s controls for climate and audio are touch-screen-like buttons that are far from intuitive. There’s also the fact the Volt seats just four, so only one friend can catch a ride if they’re both in the car.
That said, the 12-year-old boy thinks the sound the Volt makes when you push-start it and push-stop it is pretty cool — sort of like the hum of the Starship Enterprise.
As for me, I agree on most counts with the young testers, but as the guy who actually drives the thing every day to and from work, I’m coming around to appreciate the “big picture” nature of General Motors’ plug-in hybrid.
“The problem with just having it for a week is you don’t really get a sense of its efficiency,” GM Canada’s product communications manager George Saratlic told me when we ran into each other on the Cobo Hall floor during the recent Detroit Auto Show. “That’s why so many of the journalists who tested it and wrote about it sort of missed the point.”
The point is that you can drive for weeks on end without putting gas in the Volt, despite the fact its electric range is about 50 kilometres.
So far I’ve covered nearly 1,000 kilometres and still have a quarter-tank of fuel. (For more on this, see the reader letter below).
I’ve yet to do a road trip in the Volt, but again, that will set it apart from the Leaf, which is hard pressed to stretch its legs on a round trip between Vancouver and Squamish without fear of running out of juice. Which in the Leaf means you’re stranded and facing a flatbed towing charge to get you to an electrical outlet.
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Headlines were made at the Detroit Auto Show when Nissan USA announced pricing for the 2013 Leaf.
“Price cut will make Nissan Leaf the cheapest five-seat EV in 2013” was typical of the news heralding a $6,400 US price cut on the base model. That means the 2013 Leaf S will have an MSRP of $28,800 US.
Before you run down to your local Nissan dealer, take note that this price is for the U.S. market only.
“Information on the 2013 Nissan Leaf for the Canadian market will be released closer to its on-sale date, scheduled for spring 2013,” Nissan Canada’s senior manager for corporate communications Didier Marsaud informed this week.
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Reader Dave McDonald, clearly a devoted Volt owner, sent in the following letter:
“As a Volt owner for the past 18 months, I figured I would drop you a line with my experiences in the most technologically advanced car ever built.
“You will find that as the weather warms up, the 50 or so kilometres you are getting right now on the battery will increase substantially. Last summer, I averaged 67-73 km each day. It wasn’t until the thermometer dropped below about 7C that the range dropped down to high 40s per charge.
“This is due to battery performance at low temperature, and the fact that you are running all those electric accessories to keep warm and the windows frost free.
“You will also find that when the temperature drops below -5C that the gas engine will start up and run for a few minutes so that they can use the heat created by the engine to warm up the battery pack.
“I took my Volt on a long road trip last summer, and here is my fuel consumption.
“Delta to 100 Mile House: 552 km driven, 62 on battery, used 28 litres fuel. That’s 41 mpg on the gas only consumption and 46 mpg when electric range was factored in.
“I did notice that fuel economy suffered when I was forced to put in regular gas up north. Due to the lower energy content on regular fuel, the engine has to work harder to produce electricity to run the car. On regular, the fuel economy dropped to 37 mpg, but came right back to 41-42 on premium.
“My last tank of gas has lasted me so far for 5,913 km and counting. I have used 30.3 litres of fuel, and am not quite ready to refuel yet. Last time I refuelled was last July!
“I average 50 km a day commuting to work, plus all the running around I do every day.
“To say I love the car is an understatement. I think by the end of your long-term test you will forget about that limited-range Leaf you were driving.
“I watched the Volt development from the day it was first announced, and my mind was made up. The only electric I would drive is one with a backup plan. The Volt delivers.”