LEAF test drive event today

[Mybatcar]

I was fortunate enough to get two drives in a LEAF this morning here in South Florida. Nissan had quite a nice marketing set-up consisting of 5 nicely appointed special event tents with video and physical displays, refreshments, Power Co reps, Charging station rep, and several technical displays, etc. Outdoors again and they had 12 LEAFS of assorted colors and offered us our own to choose from. The drive consisted of a closed course, then onto a more open road where we were free to drive as fast as we wanted. The car has good handling and acceleration, and the similar quiet ride. The leaf has a lot more headroom than the volt, but the volt is a more solid car with a heavier "feel". My two friends both agreed they like the volt more than the leaf, especially when it comes to comfort and looks. When I was finished with the first drive there was no-one waiting, so they offered me a second drive which I happily accepted !

Steve in Boca Raton VIN#313

[Jason M. Hendler]

Oh yeah, I forgot this was happening. Nice day in Boca for doing it, hope it was a success for Nissan.

[bonaire]

Took my son to the Philadelphia car show today.

The Volt and Leaf were there along with a Mitsubishi EV-car looking more like a Chrysler/GEM car than a Leaf. Not a great unit.

Anyway, the Leaf was tucked in a back corner in a smallish Nissan section.
The Volt was prominent in the center of the enormous GM area on a rotating stand. When the well-voiced model (she should be on radio) did her talk with the volt, there were appx 80-100 people in the ring around the car during the 3pm timeframe.

She had used the new seemingly-standard "GM-mileage" numbers of combining gas miles + electric mileage for a "combined 65 mpg" rating which came from 93 mpg "equivallent" mpg when driving electric and 37 when on CS mode. Despite these misleading-type of numbers, the presentation was good and gave the Volt some good showcasing.

Back at the Leaf section, not nearly the crowds or enthusiasm. The GM tv and radio ads must be bringing out the interested buyers.

As for the show as a whole. Really poor gas mileage all around but people were all really looking at bigger cars - minivans, SUVs and crossovers. $46K for a Ford Taurus? Really? Good mileage for the diesel-powered VW cars - which makes them prime candidates for anyone wishing to drive far without burning a lot of units of fuel. 30/44 for some of the TDi models including (I think) the Jetta.

Honda Insight was nice and would be a nice alternative to the Prius if you want a small Hybrid. I didn't see the Kia Optima hybrid there (may not be ready yet).