Nissan Leaf versus Chevy Volt
The Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf are two very different, yet very similar vehicles. Both vehicles are electric cars that are bringing connectivity into a whole new era. When it comes to the vehicles looks, the Chevy Volt is more recognizable with its modern and progressive look, which makes it not as “vanilla” as the Nissan Leaf, which is geared more towards Japanese consumers with its corky, cute curves. The Leaf is much taller than the Volt, which gives more space above the heads of those in the car. Both vehicles have backseats without much thigh support, which make them uncomfortable for long car rides, but the Volt has much more leg room. When it comes to getting in and out of the cars, both are fairly easy to get in to in the front seat, but the shape of the Volt makes getting out of the back seat a bit more difficult. The vehicles both have about the same amount of truck space, but the Leaf has a cross member bar that separates the backseat from the trunk space, which makes it hard to utilize the entire space.
The range and charging times of these two vehicles could not be more different. The Leaf is solely an electric car and is able to run about 100 miles per charge, whereas the Volt has a range extender that uses mainly electric charge, but also uses gas when the battery is running low, but only runs about 40 miles per charge (that is where the gas comes in handy.) When using a 110 volt charger, the Leaf will take about 20 hours to charge and the Volt only 6 hours. However, when using a 220 volt charger, the Leaf will only take about 8 hours to charge, while the Volt will be done charging in 3 hours.
The connectivity of the vehicles are very different. The Leaf connects to a wireless global center through display screen, whereas the Volt utilizes an OnStar mobile app on a smartphone. The display screen in the Leaf shows you a battery levels, but it also shows you where the nearest charging stations are located and how many chargers are available at that location. While using the OnStar mobile app for the Volt, the consumer is able to check the charge, lock the doors, run heat or air conditioning, use a