The clear winner for me was the Leaf. Very roomy inside, lots of power.

In contrast, the door height was too short on the Volt for easy ingress/egress (I’m 6’3”). I won’t even think of getting in the back seat as the roofline swoops down. The Volt’s batteries were only 400 pounds, but the Volt felt heavy and drove sluggishly. To be fair, the Volt ran out of battery just as I was starting my test drive. The range extended mode performance may not be as peppy compared to full battery mode.
The range extender on the Volt was surprisingly quiet. I didn’t know it was on until the Chevy rep pointed it out. Kudos to GM engineers.

The 4th quarter of every year is traditionally the Auto Show season. I hope either the San Francisco or San Jose Auto Shows include an opportunity to drive these vehicles. After all, these cars are totally emission-free, producing no exhaust noise, particulates, or toxic fumes to prevent indoor driving. The Moscone Center Annex is certainly large enough for an indoor track. San Jose’s Convention Center parking lot can be used for outdoor test drives. I am not predicting, just suggesting Auto Show organizers consider this possibility.

October 1, 2010 – Santa Monica, CA Alt Car Expo 2010

I had a chance to test drive the Chevy Equinox fuel cell, Chevy Volt, Mercedes B-class fuel cell, Nissan Leaf, and a Mini-E (Electric).

Contributor to AutoBlogGreen Article

I test drove the Leaf, Volt, most of the fuel cell vehicles, and wasn’t disappointed by any. The Volt’s main battery died just as my test drive began. The range extender was much quieter than I thought – barely noticeable. The Leaf burned rubber accelerating, but the Volt was sluggish which I attribute to range extended mode. With the exception of the Monotracer, if there is a dashboard picture, I drove it.

BTW, Chevy only had one Volt for test drives, and cut the waiting list off at 60. I was #53 signing up at 10:30 a.m. By 4 p.m., most sign-ups were no-shows. If you were still there, you were allowed to drive the Volt.

Nissan was much better organized with at least 8 cars active on the test loop. Nissan’s spokesman said they are traveling with 10 cars. I saw another Leaf behind the Auditorium that was quick charging (30 min to 80 percent charge, DC). The quick charger was a biodiesel-fueled genset charging a battery pack that dumped charged directly DC to DC to the on-board pack. The car I drove had 63 miles on the trip odometer, with 31 miles charge remaining. The AC had been on all day as it was 93 and humid in LA on Friday.

July 27, 1010 – San Jose, California Plug In 2010

Only a few vehicles on display. You can look, but can’t touch. Chevy and Nissan wouldn’t even pop the hoods on the Volt or Leaf, respectively.

The biggest takeaway is that I counted seventeen (yes 17) different charging infrastructure companies most with only minor variations on the same theme. Notably absent was Better Place. I predict major consolidation in this market.

The panel discussion on public night (July 27) was extremely well attended, filling the auditorium to standing room only. Chelsea Sexton and Jessie Deeter of “Who Killed the Electric Car?” and Bill Nye “The Science Guy” held an animated panel discussion. There were a few die-hard electric car drivers, many more enthusiasts, and a lot of curious people in the audience.

Q&A ranged from “where and when can I drive an electric car today?” to why don’t we rebuild cities as metropolitan transit hubs? Where? Find an EV conversion, or one of the few remaining RAV4 or Ranger EVs. When? soon enough with Chevy and Nissan delivering first orders in the 4th quarter of 2010. Rebuild? Not feasible or financially practical, so lets focus on reducing waste rather than starting over.

Just attended the Plug In 2010 conference on Monday and Tuesday. GM announced pricing and options for the Chevy Volt. Nissan announced Leaf options and lease payments.