The Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf started sales at the same time, in December 2010. Nissan has sold about 64,000 Leafs and GM has sold about 69,000 Volts. Some people pick on the Volt just because Obama sat in one once.
“My daughter has a Nissan Altima Hybrid... Push the start button and immediately silently pull away, all the time. I'm really impressed by it, when you need acceleration it pulls away quickly with lots of torque and leaves other cars in the dust... Nissan was selling it while getting the Leaf off the ground.”
Yea, the Leaf and Volt are like this too. I think a lot of conservatives would be converts if they took a test drive.
Okay. Here's where I tend to disagree. I think the hybrids are the best way to go, electric power to save on fuel, while a fuel engine recharges the electrics. It's a good match to extend driving distance. When braking, regenerative brakes create electrical power to recharge the system.
The problem I have with all-electric cars like the Volt and Leaf, is that they are not green. They are charged from the electric grid which is primarily generated from burning coal. A gasoline powered vehicle is much cleaner in comparison. All that electricity comes from somewhere else. A hybrid on the other hand, generates the electricity on board. I do not think conservatives will be converts anytime soon to electric vehicles. Gas powered vehicles and their technology have been refined for over a hundred years and have a pretty good track record. Electrics on the other hand, have also been around for over a hundred years but are still beset with problems.
No, they aren't like the Altima hybrid. Difference being that the Leaf is all electric, and the Volt is driven only by an electric engine with the gas engine only partially recharging the electrics. The Altima hybrid, as with other hybrids, marries gas powered engine output with electric motor output. The older hybrids, like my daughter's Altima has about 195hp combined, about 149hp from the gas engine and the remainder from the electric motor. As needed, one or the other or both operate. The gas engine fully recharges the electrics without need for connection to a grid. The Leaf requires a connection, and the Volt requires a connection for a full charge. The new 2015 Altima hybrids have upped the hp to 250hp.