Like Plug, Not Range: Leaf Owner Trades In For Volt (Ampera)

[scottf200]

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/...or-volt-ampera

When the 2011 Nissan Leaf launched at the end of 2010, many environmentally-conscious drivers took the plunge and decided to buy one, hoping to leave gasoline behind for good.

For the majority of Leaf owners, Leaf ownership does just that. For some others, however, a lack of reliable public charging, unreliable range prediction and a few flat batteries has left them feeling let down about NIssan’s first electric car.

We’ve tracked down one such person, a retiree, who decided that life with a Leaf was too stressful.

His solution? Buy a Chevrolet Volt, or rather a Vauxhall Ampera, a European-market version of the Volt with a different front end.
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[Darr]

Saw that on my twitter feed from @ElectricCarNews about 50 minutes ago.

I wonder that there's not a market yet for pedal-powered chargers for Leaf owners to carry with them so they could recharge it once they've used up all the annual free tows on their insurance.

[prgrmmr736]

I read this article earlier as well, this is what I have always thought about EREV's vs pure EV's, until the range on an EV can be ~300 miles like the Model S and the recharge time comes down substantially I think EREV's are the way to go. To me EREV's bridge the gap from pure gas cars to pure EV's for consumers and I think we are going to continue to see EV's struggle and more manufactures go EREV.

[Steverino]

I know someone who bought a SUV. The gas guzzling was not a factor because his work paid for the gas. With a new job, a longer commute, and no gas reimbursement, the gas guzzling is now a big minus.

Cars are like shoes, you need one that fits.

[petefoss]

Cars are like shoes, you need one that fits.

Love it Steve!

[MrEnergyCzar]

The Leaf makes a great second car if you want to deal with having two cars....

MrEnergyCzar

[adric22]

I wonder that there's not a market yet for pedal-powered chargers for Leaf owners to carry with them so they could recharge it once they've used up all the annual free tows on their insurance.

Unlikely. I've got 15 months of Leaf ownership under my belt and I've never run out of power. In fact, I've never even come close. The closest I've come is having 17 miles remaining on the dash. According to those who are adventurous, there could be as much as 10 miles left after the range estimate disappears. Which means the least amount of battery power my car has ever had is about half of the Volt's electric range.

[DonC]

Owning a limited range BEV is stressful. At least owning an EV with the range of a Leaf is. I can see how, if Nissan doubled the range, that would help. For me the issue is you always have to be thinking about the range. If you have to go three places you have to figure out whether you can do one, two, or all three of them. Just not an issue in the Volt though in truth there is "gas anxiety". It's just that gas anxiety is a lot less stressful than range anxiety.

I've gotten down to one bar and a LBW several times. I wouldn't say many times but several. And like the guy in the article, some of the times I got home I only was able to do that by driving to make it. Had I just driven I would not have.

[realdb2]

I read this article earlier as well, this is what I have always thought about EREV's vs pure EV's, until the range on an EV can be ~300 miles like the Model S and the recharge time comes down substantially I think EREV's are the way to go.

[charlestonleafer]

Both is the perfect combo!!!!!!!!!!!!