In YOUR Opinion, Tell GM WHY The Nissan Leaf Is Outselling The Volt

Price?

The question is utterly dishonest. GM planned to sell 5,900 Volts, as part of a slow roll out of a new technology. They can't sell more than they make.

This is not a question of market demand, but intentionally limited supply. Next year, expect to see more. The "supply and demand" curve is there, though-dealers are adding big markups to a sought-after model.

This is exactly how the first generation Prius was launched. I've driven the Volt, and it's quite a nice family car, selling almost entirely to college educated high income male buyers.

I agree with all the reasons 001 mentioned that the Volt is superior to the LEAF. I am actually amazed the LEAF is outselling the Volt, the LEAF is an absolutely useless car for the majority of people (and all the "week long reviews" I've seen online bear this out -- every single reviewer had to completely reinvent their lifestyle to use the LEAF as their day to day transportation).

You gave four reasons the Volt is the better vehicle, so here are my four guesses why the LEAF is outselling it:
1) price (which is a valid reason),
2) Chevy dealers screwed the pooch in their sales tactics (added dealer markup, selling the cars to each other to pocket the tax credits, etc. -- also a valid reason),
3) consumers are leery of buying a "new tech" GM vehicle that does something they usually associate with Japanese brands being good at (less valid), and
4) consumers are stupid (the "best thing" isn't always the "best selling", and a recent study showed many consumers didn't even know the Volt was a Chevy).
My guess is it's a combination of them all.

How about one is an EV (latest craze) and one is a hybrid (which has been around for a while in various guises)

Oh and the electric range on the VOLT certainly isn't longer than the Leaf. The leaf has nothing but electric range.

It sure is, I tested it.

In real life Volt smokes the leaf... HAHA, i made a funny!

001

Because LEAF is pure electric car and Volt use GAS to generate electricity, witch means Volt is not sooooo much different from any other GAS car.

Yes the engine works with electricity, but where it comes from? From GAS!!!

If you have to go to GAS station, if you pay for GAS, you practicaly have a GAS-car!

Where to begin? How about sales numbers for both the Volt and Leaf are based upon supply constraints. Period. They are selling every unit they can build. Leaf and Volt have had a slow production ramp up. Leaf is sold out for the year. They are only available in certain states/cities. They are on target for what they said they would build in the first year. Over 7500 Leafs have been built world wide, a historical mile stone for EV's.(You probably said the Prius would never sell a million units, I'm guessing.)

Why must you politicize EV's? Nissan is building the Leaf for worldwide markets--the world does not revolve around the US.

The Volt does NOT have a larger interior. Leaf seats five vs. four for the Volt, and has more headroom.

How can a Volt have more electric range when it only uses 50% of its 16Kwh battery pack vs. Leaf's 90% of its 24Kwh battery pack? Leaf range is 2X more than Volt. This is not disputed anywhere that I've seen. Both are affected adversely in cold weather.

Volt electric mode and Leaf range suits 80% of American daily driving habits. Therefore, 80% of the time, drivers of these vehicles need not change their driving habits.

As a Leaf owner who charges the car from a residential home solar array, I can say with certainty that EV driving works. I will spend $100 per year on charging the Leaf daily vs. $2500 a year for gas in my previous car. I expect maintenance costs to be lower than an ICE car. I have an eight year battery pack warranty at which time I expect battery technology to be cheaper with higher range.

So, you can either side with the Prince of Saudi Arabia and keep the status quo or you can have an open mind towards alternative energy technology. I'm here to tell you that I've opted for energy independence. That is my idea of Independence Day in our great country on the 4th of July!

How much did your solar array set you back?

Actually the Leaf does has a larger interior by a good margin. It seats 5 where the Volt only seats 4. The leaf does not have the large central tunnel that the Volt has which makes the interior much more spacious. Having driven both of them for extended amounts of time, the Leaf is the better all around car to live with and drive...and its much less expensive.

@Joe_Limon Solar system was $26K in 2007, saves over $2K per year, panels have a 25 year warranty. I expect a $60K gross return over 30 years of life, with very little maintenance costs other than a couple of inverters over the duration. With a home equity loan, I'm paying less per month than I was by renting my electricity from the utility company. My electricity costs are locked in vs. being at the whim of utility companies.

Bulllll shiat. lol

The average monthly electric bill for North Americans is $110 a month.

To be "saving" $2000 plus a year with solar power would mean you are consuming anywhere from double to quadruple or more the average amount of energy used. Simply because of the inefficiencies of solar panels in cloud cover and during the winter.

Before you start acting like a "green" consumer, you might want to cut back in places that count.

It comes as a surprise to a lot of “auto experts”? Really, you have no clue? YTD sales of the Nissan LEAF were 3,875, 1,708 of that from the month of June and the Chevrolet Volt at 2,745 YTD with 561 form the month of June. But last month the YTD was 2, 161 for the LEAF and 2184 for the Volt. For the first five months of the year the LEAF sold at a rate of around 430 units each month and the Volt at just slightly more. In the month of June both saw a sales increase, but the LEAF was almost quadruple its previous average monthly sales. So a good automotive journalist might ask the question “What made the LEAF so popular this past month”? And then they would start to investigate.
Did something change in the availability of the LEAF? Currently the 2011 VOLT is sold in about 6 states and the 2012 Volt can now be ordered in all 50 states; but, deliveries in August will be in the current 6 states along with another 6. September will expand to what looks like a total of 20 states and by October deliveries will be in all 50 states. In December of 2010 the LEAF was initially to be available only in California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Tennessee. In January of 2011 the availability was to include Texas and Hawaii and by spring would include North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina, Alabama and Washington, D.C. By fall the rest of the states should have the LEAF available for purchase. So at the start of the year the LEAF was sold in 7 states were the VOLT was only in 6; by spring the LEAF was selling in a total of 14 states plus DC and the VOLT was still in only 6. Also spring started March 20th and continued till the start of summer around June 20th. Does it look like the LEAF sales spike might have something to do with the availability in another 7 states plus DC? Makes you wonder if there might be a connection.
Could it be price? The VOLT has an MSRP starting at 41,000 including shipping for the 2011 model, the LEAF starts at 32,780. Looking at www.autotrader.com for my zip code I find lots of LEAF’s advertised for around $35,440. Checking the VOLT I find a lot asking over $44,000. So it looks like the VOLT will set you back somewhere around $9,000 over the price of the LEAF. Maybe people are shopping and choosing based on price alone, something I don’t think is always the smart thing to do. Also, let’s not argue that one or the other is overpriced, that is a moot point. None of us know how much was spent on R&D or if some of the cost was subsidized. We don’t know the true cost of all the components. We can make a guess, but that is all it would be, a guess, not a fact.
Lastly, what is with the remark calling it the “ObamaCar”? Do you really think this was something he came up with, something he told GM to build? This car was in the development stages way before Obama became president or GM filed bankruptcy. To think that President Obama had any influence in the design or marketing of this car is, in my opinion, v

the last part was cut off for some reason and could not find an edit button.
The rest of last paragraph should be:

To think that President Obama had any influence in the design or marketing of this car is, in my opinion, very poor journalism. Making a statement such as that does not add to your credibility as a reporter.

Just want to comment about getting stranded. As an ICE owner, I never ran out of gas. As a LEAF owner, I don't plan on running out of electricity. My daily commute is 30 miles roundtrip and I have ample range left for errands. On the rare occasion I need to go beyond the range of my LEAF, I will take my ICE car. It is thrilling not to have to gas up at $50 a pop.

Yep in my recent week spent with the Leaf I found that range anxiety is a misnomer. Its range fit well within all of my daily driving needs and habits and not once did we get near the edge.

@Joe_Limon I run a small business from my home. My power usage was $222 per month prior to solar. I HAVE cut down on my dirty power grid electrical usage, I went Solar. Thanks for your concern.

So you're almost entirely running off of Solar, do you live in a desert? if not, how much did you spend on a battery system?

Better commercials. Nissan had me with the Polar Bear, then Lance.

@Joe_Limon, no batteries, it's a grid tied, time of use system. In the spring and summer my utility pays me 33 cents during peak time hours, while I pay them 11 cents for off-peak(night). So, winter I owe them, spring and summer they owe me, at true up time I pay less than $100.

Key is selling as much power as possible during the day so my neighbors get clean, local solar power.

That's smart.

Its cheaper. Its a Nissan. Its cuter.

"people are buying PURELY for image and social statement"? Says who? I like spending my money money for USA electricity, not foreign oil. The LEAF is quite practical and economical for a two car family.
" it blows my mind that even with all of the publicity and hype surrounding these cars from a media saying how much people wanted theses types of vehicles that only 6,000 units have sold so far in 2011. TOTAL for BOTH cars!!!" Come on, you know better! There is a waiting list of 20,000. We won't know how many people want them until they are in full production.

Then you are of the few.

All the surveys say the number one reason people buy these cars is because of who it says they are.

001

Like the first hybrids you have the early adopter enthusiasts who will love these cars for what they represent. No level of price, lack of value or negative press from people that actually know something about cars will get in their way. They will get the cars, be overjoyed with what they say about them and their nose will be in the air and their egos swelling with pride.

On the other hand, like hybrids, electrics will become more commonplace and the price will come down. Then more people that actually appreciate them for their mechanical and engineering attributes will buy them. I fall in the latter group. As a car guy I've been able to step back from all the social and political angles to these new cars like the Leaf and Volt and get like them for their engineering novelty. I'm not a global warming nut or an enviro-nazi either.

I could see an all electric or a hybrid in my driveway one day....when the price gets competitive enough where it actually makes financial sense over a standard car. Because one thing that I do like is that my electric rates per kilowatt have been stable for the past 20 years, only going up at a regulated and predictable rate. Gas prices...well you know.

LOL. I don't own a Porsche. But my 2004 Scion xB says "I can't afford a new one".

The latest sales figures are out and what may come as a surprise to a lot of auto experts is that the Nissan Leaf is handily outselling the Chevy Volt.One of simple secret about auto insurance is your location can affect premium pretty easily. If you have two address try both of them and see if your premium goes up and down. If you need tips on auto insurance search "Auto Insurance Clearance" it is the best place

To the public, the Leaf is a true electric car, while the Volt is still "some sort of hybrid". In that sense, no wonder customers are more interested in picking up a Leaf/electric car, rather than another hybrid.

To the general public that isn't the case. For most consumers they will ask if they plug the car in and whether it runs on electricity. It will then be classified as an ev in their minds. The dealer then reassures their range anxiety with the generator part. You assume the general public to be more aware then they actually are. Heck even naming it the "volt" will convince a large portion of buyers that it's a pure ev.

Agreed!............A motor backup system is better.......Pure electric might be fine as a city car but not as a practical everyday car..........

The Volt was a failed product from the start, but GM still invested in it to get your money (tax payers).

Only a complete idiot would pay over $40k for a hybrid where they can get a way better hybrid for half the price! But, we're too stupid that we keep supporting our rich people in the name of we're supporting American companies, when these leaders of such companies don't even pay the damn about that concept. So, go ahead and fill their pockets and empty yours.

If only there was this much interest in either one of these modern day Edsels on the showroom floor with actual paying customers.

001

One word...availability.

In my opinion anyone who can comfortably afford to pay 30 grand plus for a pure electric car(Leaf) or one with gas assist (Volt)owns more then one car. For this reason then owning an electric car in this price range is more about making a social statement against petroloeum based gasoline cars. If this had to be their only car the Volt in my eyes would be preferable due to it's extended range. However a person having 2 cars would simply use the Leaf in city driving and use the Volt or their petrol based car for highway driving on a limited basis.What would be a further demerit on the Volt is it's 9 grand price difference over the Leaf. At 44 grand you are getting a lot less luxury and quality then in a typical 44 grand petrol car.It also becomes a lot less practical(not that the Leaf is practical in my book). However with ownership of 2 cars it's not as important if it takes 8 or 9 hours to charge the battery.This is my explanation and it could be totally bogus if the sales figures change in the next few months between the vehicles.
Clearly nobody is really saving money buying either of these 2 vehicles at the moment. 3 things have to occur to fundementally change the buying habits of Americans for these types of vehicles.
1) Price needs to be between $15 and $25 grand.
2) The electric ranges needs to more then double.
3) The recharge time needs to improve from 8 hours to about 15 minutes.

When this technology meets these criteria Electric cars (I predict) would account for 80% of the new vehicle population.

There is a fourth thing, gas prices going through the roof, say double at $7/gal.

The price of the car is a negative when the dealer tacks on an ADM equal to your tax break, and then tells you that. Also, all of these cars are poor performers in cold climates, so if you are going to sell them "up North" you need to improve this area. Also, the Volt would be my choice, over the Leaf, simply because we live in South Dakota, and not in a city. We have to drive at least 35 miles, one way, to shop, see a doctor, etc.