We've had two electric cars in our fleet, a Mini E and a Nissan Leaf. Accumulating miles on the two plug-ins was difficult due to their limited range. Neither could venture very far from home. After 12-months we had only driven the Mini 7,683 miles and the Leaf only covered 3,551 miles during its 6-month stay with us.
Our Chevy Volt, however, has proven itself to be much more useful. Much more of a real car than those pure electrics. Despite very few "road trips" (I think the furthest it has traveled from our Santa Monica office is San Francisco) the plug-in hybrid has covered 15,002 miles since we bought it 13-months ago.
Heck, just yesterday I drove our Volt 140 miles from Santa Monica to Oxnard, CA and back on the picturesque Pacific Coast Highway. A trip both the Mini E and the Leaf are incapable of making without a very long stop for charging.
In the Volt, the first 39.7 miles of the trip were on pure electric, then I was burning the black gold.
Scott Oldham, Editor in Chief
throwback says:
12:42 PM, 02/ 7/12
What's the latest on the auction?
gslippy says:
03:09 PM, 02/ 7/12
Obviously, anyone who expects to take long trips shouldn't buy a Leaf, but I'd like one as a commuter.
What's been the total fuel consumption for the Volt over the 15k miles?
@throwback: Current bid is $30,001.99 - miraculous, if you ask me. "Reserve not met" = optimistic.
I missed the IL article that mentioned a Carmax offer of $32k; that's pretty high.
billt9 says:
10:02 PM, 02/ 7/12
Range extender design is so much better.
Can't wait for the Fusion, and the whole market make Range extender models.