Did the Leaf Test Drive Event today...

[MTN Ranger]

I took the Leaf test drive event today. It lasted about two hours from start to finish. Both myself and my wife got to drive the Leaf after an hour presentation. The presentation covered the battery, charger/infrastructure, nav & range, and finally a display car to look and play with. They had about twelve cars set up for driving. It started in a parking lot with cones and a brief overview of functions/controls. Then we went on a two mile drive on open roads that included hills and flat terrain.

I also took the Volt test drive a few months ago.

Impressions:
Pros:
The back seat is definitely easier to enter and exit from than the Volt. It also seemed to be more spacious in the back seat at the expense of truck/hatch space.
The Leaf looks better in person than in photos - I was pleasantly surprised.

Cons:
The acceleration was a step down from the Volt.
The interior squeaked quite a bit compared to the solid feeling of the Volt. I'm not sure if it is due to being pre-production or not. I forgot to ask if these were engineering samples or production versions.
The interior quality plastics seem cheaper than the volt. The seat fabric (though they were heavily promoting the "recycled" element) did not seem very nice.
The rear hatch seemed quite a bit smaller than the Volt.

Overall the event was pretty polished and high tech with flat screens presenting info everywhere. There were four prefab/transportable buildings for the event compared to GM's single 10'x10' tent. The presenters had a more marketing feel than the GM engineers and tried to answer technical questions. The presenters and assistants were very friendly. GM could take some hints from the overall quality of the presentation.

BTW, there was a 1st gen Insight and lots of Prius (I guess it's officially Prii) in the test drive parking lot.

[larry4pyro]

I thought the Leaf test drive event was better coordinated than the Volt test drive. It was much more polished and organized. But, I thought the Volt event was much more informative. The Volt event did not have any presentations, just long lines waiting to drive. However while we were waiting in line, questions were being answered by engineers that actually worked on the Volt. When we finally got to drive the Volt our guide was one of the production managers at the manafacturing plant. The type of people attending both events were also seemed to be quite different. During our Q&A with the GM engineers I was astonished with depth of knowledge exhibited in the questions asked, and the conversation. It seems to me Volt fans tend to be techies, in contrast the Leaf fans appear to be more environmentalists. Finally the Volt event featured a great lunch as opposed to coffee and snacks from Nissan - guess I'm easily bought off.

[MTN Ranger]

I agree. On the Volt drives, I had a battery engineer and a drive train engineer that were very knowledgable. Nissan just had marketing people.

Unfortunately, the Volt tour in my city didn't have any refreshments, food or swag. My wife was disappointed that Nissan had instant coffee and crackers. Hey it was free, I don't mind.

OT, I guess the website posts each attached photo as an entry on the front page. I don't mean to appear to be spamming!

[DonC]

Cons:
The acceleration was a step down from the Volt.

While the cars drive differently, the Leaf is actually a hair quicker up to 40 MPH. http://www.roadandtrack.com/var/ezfl...fe6e6352c6.pdf

Agree about the interior but I've heard some people saying the opposite. Also agree the Nissan drive was more impressive marketing event.

[ClarksonCote]

BTW, there was a 1st gen Insight and lots of Prius (I guess it's officially Prii) in the test drive parking lot.

Actually, Toyota had an official press release a while back declaring the plural of Prius is... Prius, much like Moose or Sheep. Nissan also issued a press release to state the plural of Leaf would be Leafs. Kind of amusing.

[MTN Ranger]

Actually, Toyota had an official press release a while back declaring the plural of Prius is... Prius, much like Moose or Sheep. Nissan also issued a press release to state the plural of Leaf would be Leafs. Kind of amusing.

Prii is official now.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/21/t...r-latin-teach/

[mmalc]

While the cars drive differently, the Leaf is actually a hair quicker up to 40 MPH. http://www.roadandtrack.com/var/ezfl...fe6e6352c6.pdf

Interesting; I let a LEAF-owning colleague drive my Volt yesterday and she said she was quite impressed by how quick off the mark it is (and she confessed to having something of a lead foot).

Agree about the interior but I've heard some people saying the opposite.

After sitting in one, I would be happy enough with the LEAF's interior. Sure, it's not decked out in hand-polished Chilean burl, but it was pleasantly and cleanly appointed...

[Carl S]

I have a question for anyone that's driven a Leaf or been to a Leaf test drive event.

Did any of you hear the low-speed sounds that the car makes, either while outside the car or while driving it? I understand that they are there for safety, and you can turn them off every time you start the car, but making some sort of low-speed artificial sound mandatory for hybrid and EVs in the future was one of the reasons I wanted a first generation Volt, where I can choose to use the pedestrian-friendly alert and don't have to turn it off every time I start the car if I don't want to hear it.

I seem to remember when Lyle took his Leaf test drive, he commented that he was able to hear the low-speed sound the car makes from the driver's seat, so I'm curious to find out if anyone else heard it. Thanks!

[DarkStar]

I have a question for anyone that's driven a Leaf or been to a Leaf test drive event.

Did any of you hear the low-speed sounds that the car makes, either while outside the car or while driving it? I understand that they are there for safety, and you can turn them off every time you start the car, but making some sort of low-speed artificial sound mandatory for hybrid and EVs in the future was one of the reasons I wanted a first generation Volt, where I can choose to use the pedestrian-friendly alert and don't have to turn it off every time I start the car if I don't want to hear it.

I seem to remember when Lyle took his Leaf test drive, he commented that he was able to hear the low-speed sound the car makes from the driver's seat, so I'm curious to find out if anyone else heard it. Thanks!

The VSP system is disabled on the vehicles for these Nissan events... I haven't heard the noise in person yet, however in all the videos I've seen, the noise isn't very loud. A few LEAF owners have commented that they can't hear the noise from inside the vehicle during normal operation (radio on or while talking inside the vehicle).

[MTN Ranger]

I didn't hear the pedestrian sound either. I asked the rep in the car and they had no idea. I did notice the whine of the electric motor more so than the Volt. I wonder if the sound dampening is better in the Volt.