In order to understand what the Chevy Volt is all about, a review of the vehicle, written by Dave Vanderwerp titled "2011 Chevrolet Volt Full Test - Road Test" published October 2010 on the Car and Driver website, lays out exactly what the Volt is all about.
A review of the Nissan Leaf electric car titled "First Drive: 2011 Nissan Leaf doesn't change the game, just the players", and written by Damon Lavrinc July 27, 2010 and published on the Autoblog website lays out the particulars of that vehicle.
There are interesting differences between them, which this article attempts to explain.
Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf or Toyota Prius
The first point of confusion is what the differences between these new vehicles and the popular Toyota Prius Hybrid are. The Toyota Prius is designed and sold as a hybrid with both electric and gasoline engine power that work together.
The Prius does not need to be plugged into an electric outlet. The electric engine of the Prius powers the car at low speed and idle while the gasoline engine propels the vehicle above certain speed thresholds. The battery in the Prius is recharged by a system that reclaims energy from the braking system. The Prius has a range just similar to any other gasoline powered car on the market.
The Chevy Volt also has both an electric engine and gasoline motor at its disposal. The Volt has to be plugged into a 120-volt regular household outlet or a 240-volt quicker charging power source. The first question might be if both the Prius and Volt has electric and gasoline engines, what’s the difference?
The difference is that the electric engine in the Chevy Volt is the primary power source, a second electric engine generates electricity from the gasoline engine. If your daily driving does not exceed the 25 to 50 mile range of the electric engine, the gasoline motor never starts up for use. In the Volt the gasoline engine serves to extend the driving range of the vehicle overall which gives the car an unlimited range overall, provided the gasoline engine is kept fed.
The Nissan Leaf is a fully electric vehicle with an only an electric engine. The Leaf has a fully charged range of 100 miles. The Leaf can be plugged into a regular household outlet for about 20 hours to get a full charge or a 220-volt outlet will charge it in about 7 hours. Some areas have 440-volt charging stations that will charge the battery up to 80% charge in about 30 minutes.
Decision Factors in selecting an Electric Car
For the purpose of this evaluation the Prius is omitted. The first question about the cars is do they fit the basic requirements of size, carrying capacity and style to suit your needs. Secondly is the question of access to electric power to charge the batteries.
This does not boil down to if you own or rent your place of residence, it comes down to if you have access to plug in power where you park your car. You may be buying a condo unit, but if it is designed like an apartment complex and your vehicle is in a parking lot without access to electrical power, then you'll find it hard to keep the car charged.
You could be renting a home that has an attached garage with easy access to power. A home without a garage presents the issue of plugging your car in with a cord exposed to the elements, and potential theft.
The next question is : How far do you need to drive? This sounds simple, but even if you live with 5 miles of your job, what happens if you need to travel to a location 150 miles from your home with little advanced notice? The Nissan Leaf would create a problem for you is that situation came up because it is outside of the range of the car even on a one-way trip, but the Chevrolet Volt would not cause a problem because of the gasoline backup engine.
These two vehicles are therefore designed for very different applications, and markets.
The Leaf is more of a short haul, urban type vehicle and the Volt is designed to be much more flexible in a world where charging stations are very limited for electric vehicles. If you are a salesperson with a regional territory that will involve covering a state neither of these vehicles may be right for you. If your commute to work is 20 mile round trip, these cars may allow you to ignore the price of a gallon of gas.
The U S government is willing to encourage you to buy an electric vehicle by offering a $7,500 tax credit for purchasing one of the vehicles. The tax incentive is covered in an article titled "Our view on tax breaks: Uncle Sam wants you ... to buy electric cars" published on the USA Today website August 2, 2010.
Soon you could be asking if the car is charged instead of whether it has a full tank of gas; only time will tell whether these two vehicles take off.
