Chevy Volt-here, 6 orders for the Leaf

[Christopher Jordan]

Volt is in Watsonville. More Leafs wanted. I wonder if that is some sort of pattern. Storms are happening now and are forecast to be coming a few days too- funny timing.

[Christopher Jordan]

Oops - 16 Leaf orders-
Chevy Volt arrives in Watsonville showroom; 16 orders for Nissan LEAF - Santa Cruz Sentinel

[autoteach]

Man, I am really disappointed with Nissan! They promised 99mile range, and the EPA has shown 77miles. Over promise and under-deliver must be their motto. Its a shame that we cant kill all them. And without real world numbers, I fully trust the EPA test cycle to be 100% accurate. Sarcastic rant over.

[talldudenumber5]

i am sure the epa range is conservative. this site after all is nothing but people exceding there epa estimates so i am sure 77 is easy to beat and probally even 100 for a true hypermiler

[autoteach]

Apparently the sarcastic rant is something that you are not familiar with. You would think that the Leaf was Jesus Christ himself, returning to take all the believers to the promised land. Oh no, watch out, the satanic reVOLT is coming to take your children, your wives, and will kick your dog.

I'm sorry, is this helping you understand the issue that has been covered at length? There is a group of individuals here that are getting anxiety attacks at the possibility that Chevy made a hybrid/electric vehicle that operates differently then the prius, the leaf, and whatever else is currently out there and could be successful in that narrow area of design, just the same that the Leaf will be successful for those who dont drive more than 50 miles a day. Maybe it is the cost... when companies take a total bath on car projects to fulfill the US governments environmental demands for their entire brand, or to establish command of a market in hopes that other manufacturers will abandon it (monopolizing technology). Well, the long and short of it is this... If you want to piss and moan, there is no kleenex here for you. I dont care how much you dislike the volt and how you are not going to buy it. Ok, the leaf is better, go buy it. Buy it and live with it for 5 years. Let us know about the compromises that you had to make in purchasing a vehicle that is so limited. I will wait, but for now you can stop pissing and moaning because I guarantee that if the volt was $20,000 you would be squirting with excitement over its world domination. Why dont we just wait until someone purchases it, lives with it for a while, and makes a real decision on whether or not it was worth it. Not so sarcastic rant over.

p.s. Maybe I can make it a point to turn every unreasonably negative thread into a banned/closed rant.

[Laurentiu]

Originally Posted by talldudenumber5

i am sure the epa range is conservative. this site after all is nothing but people exceding there epa estimates so i am sure 77 is easy to beat and probally even 100 for a true hypermiler

It might not be so easy. After all an electric car is very much different from a typical gasoline car, especially the over-sized, over-powered cars on the US roads.

The same way a hybrid's EPA rating is much harder to improve, an electric's range will probably not be so easy to beat.

In fact, I would say the situation can quickly turn in the opposite direction of NOT achieving even that EPA rating. Take some snow-blizzard conditions with temps slipping into minus (Farenheit) and then let's see who's gonna go 77 miles...

[Cd]

So .... who is going to be the first to slap a full grille block and smooth disks on the Leaf ?
I would be tempted to do it even before I got the car out of the dealership parking lot.
:-)

[Christopher Jordan]

Even the remaining $4999. Zenn (that needs $2K batteries) and those 2 resurrected Zap Zebras (at an EV sales business here) are too high for my budget. Just surprising these new kids on the block finally got here!

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Laurentiu

It might not be so easy. After all an electric car is very much different from a typical gasoline car, especially the over-sized, over-powered cars on the US roads.

The same way a hybrid's EPA rating is much harder to improve, an electric's range will probably not be so easy to beat.

In fact, I would say the situation can quickly turn in the opposite direction of NOT achieving even that EPA rating. Take some snow-blizzard conditions with temps slipping into minus (Farenheit) and then let's see who's gonna go 77 miles...

It depends, it fairly easy to beat EPA on most every MT vehicle I have driven, its all about speed and lack of stops. Every Auto vehicle I have driven has been very challenging to improve upon, especially in stop and go or in town driving situations.

There already have been several real world driving events if you can call it that were people have exceeded the 100 mile range, mostly again highway type driving. An electric is unlikely to like P&G

[Ryland]

Remember that the EPA test is also done in standard performance mode, click the economy mode and the programing of the controller makes it harder to drive harshly.
The Volt is also not meeting it's claimed 237mpg number or 40 mile battery range either.
Why they didn't underestimate the numbers baffles me a bit, tell the public that their car will have a 80 mile range then give it a 100 mile pack.