Edmunds tests 9 pure EVs

[palmermd]

http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/electric-car-comparison-test.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/testing-electric-vehicles-in-the-real-world.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diJj-zQ09yc[/youtube]

edit: sorry about the bad links earlier...they should work now.

 

[scottf200]

 

[WetEV]

Edit, links fixed.

 

[surfingslovak]

This was discussed in this thread a few days ago as well.

 

[Nubo]

How cool is it that there are 9 vehicles available for such a head-to-head review? Sure, some of them are compliance cars, but still... when people start discussing getting "the best EV for their needs", instead of "AN" EV, the game has changed.

 

[palmermd]

http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/electric-car-comparison-test.html


http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/testing-electric-vehicles-in-the-real-world.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Try these links.

sorry about that. I fixed the original post.

 

[palmermd]

This was discussed in this thread a few days ago as well.

thanks for the link. I searched before I posted, but I guess it did not find it embedded in the other thread.

 

[surfingslovak]

How cool is it that there are 9 vehicles available for such a head-to-head review? Sure, some of them are compliance cars, but still... when people start discussing getting "the best EV for their needs", instead of "AN" EV, the game has changed.

Absolutely, competition is the Name of the game. Should compel OEMs to put out better products as well.

 

[surfingslovak]

I searched before I posted, but I guess it did not find it embedded in the other thread.

No dout. If I had a penny for every time the search feature has failed me...

 

[DeaneG]

Interesting that the "compliance cars" significantly outperformed the Leaf. Maybe it's because they don't have to sell well - they can be expensive for the consumer or unprofitable for the manufacturer, so their battery can be much larger.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Interesting that the "compliance cars" significantly outperformed the Leaf. Maybe it's because they don't have to sell well - they can be expensive for the consumer or unprofitable for the manufacturer, so their battery can be much larger.

For the Rav4, I really have no idea why they made it as good as they did, to take a bath financially on every one sold.

They could have met ZEV CARB rules with their Smart size Toyota and a "100 mile range" bullshit that Nissan uses with the LEAF (it gets more ZEV credits when it is 100 miles, and even more with "fast charging").

 

[Bicster]

I thought it was Tesla engineers that decided that the RAV4 was the most suitable existing Toyota model for electrification...

Although I'm still not sure why they made it as good as they did... They didn't have to make it go 0-60 in 7 or give it so much range.

I still can't make up my mind about the Focus BEV and where it fits in. It has all the hallmarks of a compliance car, yet it's available (or will be available) nationwide. I think I'll go drive one in a few, and then feel sad about how small the cargo area is, because I already know in my heart it's going to be a lot more fun to drive than a LEAF.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I thought it was Tesla engineers that decided that the RAV4 was the most suitable existing Toyota model for electrification...

True. I suspect they needed a physically large car to fit all their hardware, which eliminates small cars.

 

[mwalsh]

Observation...NOBODY but the manufacturer or people in the media can drive a VW Golf EV right now. Great car, no doubt. But really didn't belong in the test, IMHO.

 

[GeekEV]

How cool is it that there are 9 vehicles available for such a head-to-head review? Sure, some of them are compliance cars, but still... when people start discussing getting "the best EV for their needs", instead of "AN" EV, the game has changed.

Absolutely, competition is the Name of the game. Should compel OEMs to put out better products as well.

Also also know the game has changed because people are now asking me "how long does it take to charge and how far can you go" instead of "how many miles per gallon do you get?". Two years ago was a very different story...

 

[DeaneG]

...For the Rav4, I really have no idea why they made it as good as they did, to take a bath financially on every one sold...

That RAV4 is looking good to me. I hope they are still available in a year, when I can drop my Leaf for something more capable.

 

[Boomer23]

Interesting that the "compliance cars" significantly outperformed the Leaf. Maybe it's because they don't have to sell well - they can be expensive for the consumer or unprofitable for the manufacturer, so their battery can be much larger.

But most of these don't have larger packs. The Ford and Honda, for example, have smaller packs than the LEAF, yet they get more range. Pretty impressive for conversions of existing ICE models.

As for why Toyota and Tesla made the RAV so good, I imagine that once Tesla was involved, they didn't want anything with their name on it to be substandard. Too much risk of damaging their still young brand. I agree, though, that Toyota could have opted to "cheap out" with a tiny city car. I'm glad they didn't.

I'm really glad to have this comparison data from Edmunds. Helps so much for my "next EV" planning to have objective range and performance data, which up to now has been sketchy and subjective.

 

[evnow]

In the interest of safety we start looking for a convenient place to stop when the distance-to-empty gauge (DTE) drops to 5 miles.

I've always thought of the range as something you get until you hit turtle.

This till DTE shows 5 is probably the reason there is such a big difference between tested miles on FFE & Leaf.

But then, on DTE if the range dropped to 5 (or near zero) most users would assume it will stop soon. Nissan with the first firmware update erred too much on the conservative side near the bottom of the battery.

 

[ksnogas2112]

Odd that they would use a 2011 Leaf when the '13's are almost out. At least should have compared a new '12.

 

[TonyWilliams]

In the interest of safety we start looking for a convenient place to stop when the distance-to-empty gauge (DTE) drops to 5 miles.

I've always thought of the range as something you get until you hit turtle.

This till DTE shows 5 is probably the reason there is such a big difference between tested miles on FFE & Leaf.

But then, on DTE if the range dropped to 5 (or near zero) most users would assume it will stop soon. Nissan with the first firmware update erred too much on the conservative side near the bottom of the battery.

All true, except the general consumer doesn't or should need to know which car has 3 extra miles or 5 extra miles. If it shows 5 to go, they should expect it will go 5 more miles.

Nissan can easily fix this, and rig up the GOM for any parameter they want.