Taxpayer-Subsidized Nissan Leaf Fails Real-Life Test

nissan-leaf-electric-vehicleBy Paul Chesser

On Monday NLPC’s Mark Modica smartly called into question Consumer Reports’ sudden change in opinion about the electric hybrid Chevy Volt from a vehicle that they once believed “doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense,” to one the publication recommends. The next day, however, CR delivered an online review of the major all-electric vehicle on the U.S. market “the Nissan Leaf ” and while not intended to be scathing, the account given by reviewer Liza Barth makes the car sound so unappealing, she should have panned it outright.

I wish I could reproduce her entire account here without a charge of plagiarism, to detail exactly what a turkey the Leaf is, so make sure you follow the link to Barth’s assessment. And while giving somewhat a nod of approval in a late September review based upon CR’s very controlled facility testing, Barth’s real-life experience told the true story.

Her test of the vehicle was over the course of a long weekend, beginning on a Thursday evening. On her Friday morning commute from her New Jersey home to CR’s Yonkers headquarters which she said normally includes a 33-mile ride that incorporates the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River. She already suffered a case of range anxiety. “So,” Barza wrote, “I opted to travel fewer miles and pay the $12 toll over the George Washington Bridge and another $2.25 over the Henry Hudson Bridge.” Ouch.

Barza contended that she and her kids enjoyed the Leaf and had fun driving it, but apparently only so long as she traveled no farther than the corner store (or an equivalent distance). Then she and her husband planned an evening dinner date, so she plugged the Leaf in during the afternoon for five hours (isn’t that an entire afternoon?), which she said only raised the range from 25 miles to 75 miles. “I wasn’t confident we would make it there and back to our dinner location, which was 60 miles round trip,” Barza recounted. So the Leaf could not transport them for the evening.

Read the rest at National Legal and Policy Center.

87 Responses to Taxpayer-Subsidized Nissan Leaf Fails Real-Life Test

  1. Joe December 19, 2011 at 11:07 pm #

    I’m never insulted simply amazed by your juvenile replies not know the circumstances. One of my best friends just passed with Cancer from Agent Orange. Enough said.

  2. Rob N. Hood December 20, 2011 at 8:00 am #

    Ok, Joe- you are superior to me in all ways. I bow before thee. Happy now?

  3. Joe December 22, 2011 at 9:54 pm #

    Old Lakota saying as stated in the past, “We are all one.”

  4. Rob N. Hood December 23, 2011 at 8:14 am #

    Miigwitch

  5. Joe December 23, 2011 at 11:32 pm #

    We are all related. Assume you do not understand with your pig latin?

  6. Rob N. Hood December 24, 2011 at 12:00 pm #

    You calling Ojibwe pig latin Mr. Big Heart Lakota? Shows to go ya.

  7. Joe December 26, 2011 at 1:40 am #

    It is migwetch and ojibwe and “Walking Bear” would be proud that you are partaking in research. About time. “Thank you” we both say. Better knowledge, better understanding. You will learn someday. Only time will tell. “Uhn btr hvr scrvin!” Let me know what I just said. You will be amazed when you find it and understand it’s sincere meaning.

  8. Rob N. Hood December 26, 2011 at 6:27 pm #

    It must have something to do with being condescending.

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