Why we sold our Nissan Leaf and bought a Chevy Volt

Goodbye, dear Leaf. I had mixed feelings about seeing our Nissan electric car loaded onto an auto transport trailer a few days ago.

The car was on its way to a new owner in eastern Washington.

It needed a lift, given the Leaf's 100 mile range. I was happy to have sold the Leaf, since the Chevy Volt that we ordered to replace it is on a train at the moment and should arrive in a few weeks. Yet I enjoyed the Leaf and was sort of sad to see it go.

(As described below, my wife felt differently.)

After placing an Auto Trader ad for the Leaf, I got quite a few emails from people asking "Why are you selling the car?" Good question, since we only owned the Leaf for about eight months and it had just 3,000 miles on it.

Here's the detailed answer that I shared.

Our reasons for selling the Leaf are kind of unusual. Meaning, quite specific to us. My wife has a sensitive back. Even though she test-drove a Leaf several times before we bought ours, almost as soon as we got the Leaf home she started feeling uncomfortable in the front seats. That's the main reason we had leather put on the seats, added some firmness to the driver's side seatback, and got the electrically activated lumbar supports in the front seats.

My wife also didn't like the front headrests, which, like on most new cars these days, are angled forward in an attempt to reduce the "whiplash" distance in an accident. So after some negotiating with Nissan, we were able to buy some headrests from another Nissan car that are much more upright. Thus we have two sets of leather headrests that will go with the car when we sell it.

I found the Leaf seats comfortable. Researching this subject on Leaf discussion groups, I learned that some people don't like the seats, while most people do. Consumer Reports thought they were somewhat soft and lacked support. Adding leather and the other things we did helped quite a bit, but my wife still gets some back pain when driving the Leaf. (She also has trouble with many mattresses and chairs, her back being quite sensitive.) So that's one reason.

Another reason -- and this only will make sense to you if you're an avid dog lover, or know someone who is -- is that when the rear seats are folded, the Leaf "luggage" compartment slopes downward toward the hatch, because of the battery stack in the middle of the car. Our oldest dog is 12 1/2 years old. She's getting some hip problems, being a Lab/Shepherd mix. Our dog tilts downhill when she's on the pad that we put in the luggage compartment. Pretty clearly, she doesn't like riding in the Leaf as much as she likes to ride in our Mini Cooper or Highlander SUV. This might not seem like a big deal to you, but you don't know how dog crazy my wife is.

Lastly, we live about six miles from the Salem city limits, out in the country. Even so, range in the Leaf hasn't been a big issue. When the Leaf is fully charged, usually it shows an estimated 100 miles of range, or thereabouts. That's a lot of driving, even starting six miles from Salem -- where we do most of our shopping, errands, and such. Range, though, drops to 80 miles or so in the winter if it's near freezing, given the need to use the heater, wipers, and headlights more. So a minor issue added on to the more important "seat comfort" and "dog" issues is range.

We've ordered a Chevy Volt, which is being built for us. It's supposed to arrive in late May or early June. We're staying electric. But the seats in the Volt feel more comfortable to my wife, and the luggage area where our dog(s) will go is completely flat. That's why we're selling the Leaf. I might have told you more than you need, or want, to know, but felt that if you're thinking of a Leaf, it would be helpful for you to fully understand why we're selling it.

Obviously, it's also got a lot of plus's. Aside from the environmental benefits, freedom from gas stations, and low cost of "filling up," I like the light, quick, airy, high-tech feel of the car, even though I mostly drive my Mini Cooper S. Meaning, I like a responsive sports car feel, yet the Leaf has its own distinctive driving appeal. The Volt feels more sporty, yet the Leaf has an air of quietness (literally, road noise is less in the Leaf than in the Volt), responsiveness, and openness (Leaf feels more spacious than the Volt, and visibility is better) which I like a lot.

Comments

[Willie R]

I can't wait until you report on your impressions of the Chevy Volt's build quality. You know how well the Prius was constructed. Nissan has always been an also-ran when it comes to comparisons with Honda and Toyota - your Leaf wasn't around long enough for my statement to self-verify.

The Volt is a very attractive vehicle. I hope it's all that you expect.

[Brian Hines]

Willie R., we're looking forward to getting it soon. The hardest thing for me to adjust to will be looking at that iconic Chevy emblem on the front of the car.

I haven't owned an American car since my depised 4-cylinder Ford Fairmont back in the 70's, or whenever it was. (I try to blot the memory of the Fairmont out.) And I don't think my wife has ever owned an American car. (Her despised car is a VW Rabbit, which occasionally ran correctly.)

But, hey, the world has changed. The Chevy Volt won European Car of the Year. I'm expecting we'll like the Volt a lot, based on our test drives.

[JPWhite]

I understand you personal reasons for selling the LEAF. The range comment made less sense to me given your relatively low mileage. 3,000 miles in 8 months and close proximity to your primary destination, 6 miles. Other than occasional long trips what was the problem with range?

Even with heater on cold winter days the 30 mile daily commute left me plenty for errands on an 80% charge.

[Frank]

I must say I love the soft comfortable seats in the Leaf but understand people with back or neck issues might need something different. Only have mine a few weeks and so far can't find anything I dislike about it. Hope to put it through its paces in the next few weeks when I start my summer holidays - a few trips to the mountains and countryside. Mountains should be fun probably lose loads of range heading there and get them back on the return.

[Brian Hines]

JPWhite, we didn't have much of a problem with range, so long as we took just one trip into town and back. The problem was more with multiple trips, with quite a few stops.

Meaning, we'd be reluctant to make another trip when we didn't have enough time to recharge the Leaf. Yes, we probably could have made two trips, but the downside of running out of juice is considerable, compared to heading to a gas station for a fill-up.

So with the Volt, we might end up driving on electricity more than we did with the Leaf. Not sure, but its a possibility. After all, if we went 20 miles into town and back, then had to return for a longer trip with more errands, likely we wouldn't have taken the Leaf.

But with the Volt, our attitude will be "run on electricity until its gone, then switch to gas." So we'd use up the remaining 15 miles of so of battery range on the Volt, whereas we would have gone with all gas in one of our other cars if we'd worried about taking the Leaf out again.

[allan c]

Can you post which headrests you replaced the originals with? I have a Leaf and hate the view-blocking headrests in the back.

[Brian Hines]

allan, my wife seems to remember "Nissan Cube." I sent the paperwork associated with getting the replacement headrests to the new owner. If you're really interested in learning the Nissan model, I could email him and ask if the model is mentioned on the forms.

The other headrests were decidedly more upright. We only replaced the front seat headrests. Not sure how the viewing would change if the rear headrests were replaced.

[Raza]

Hi
With the 2013 being substantially cheaper, I am interested to know at what price did you sell your 8-month old car with 3k miles. I am presuming it was a 2012. Was it the SV or SL version?

I am actually thinking of upgrading from my current 2012 to 2013 due to the 6.6 kWh charger in the 2013... Mins is over a year old but only has 9000 miles on it

[Brian Hines]

Raza, we sold the Leaf for $25,000. It was the SL, I believe (fancier version).

[Malcolm]

I also, would be very interested to find out what model Nissan your replacement headrests came out of. The stock ones are at the wrong angle for my wife.

Thanks for your blog! Lots of interesting information!

[Boyan Biandov]

IMHO Nissan erred in the design by not including a backup gasoline engine. It isn't only the range, which is a big one too but also the time it takes to transfer energy into the vehicle. Often people forget that one can transfer the volume of energy worth 500 miles in about 120 seconds at the pump. That is huge compared to the charging times of any EV these days.

I'm also reluctant in buying Chevy so I wish Nissan comes up with Leaf 2 which includes a gasoline engine...