Motor Trend comparison article on the Leaf, Volt and Prius

[GaslessInSeattle]

It's hard not to feel like this is just someone's attempt to make a mountain out of a mole hill, or simply give something sensational to read about. I am generally very sensitive to high pitched sounds and all I hear on occasion is the werr of the electric motor, much like one of the electric city bus's. Having heard about it a little on this board from users, it makes me think that some LEAF's have this much more than most. Has anyone with the issue tried driving another LEAF and see if they notice it?
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The August 2011 issue of Motor Trend has a very detailed article comparing the Leaf, Volt and Prius.

Here is the link:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1108_2011_chevrolet_volt_vs_2011_nissan_leaf_vs_2011_toyota_prius_comparison/index.html

Lots of high frequency motor whine:

"THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
As we walked into the house after a day of cruising around in the Leaf, my wife said, "I've got to lie down, my ears are ringing." Daughter Catherine said, "Me, too," and went over to the piano and struck a very high key. "Pinggg"-yep, that was just about what I was still hearing as well "

a 2012 Versa review:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/1104_2012_nissan_versa_sedan_look/index.html

 

[david2344]

I now have been driving my leaf for 8 weeks with an average of 40 miles a day and have no complaints about high pitched noise!

The better half has been driving it when I am out of town on long trips and she has not mentioned anything about the high pictched noise either....

But I must say I had a hearing test done last year and I have perfect hearing up to 2,000 HZ after which it drops like a rock!

I have a little tininitus from being around jets in the service but it is something I have grown use to after about 45 years!

So I guess the is the perfect car for me........

What is the measured HZ range recorded from MT test?

I read the article but could not see the HZ range on the graph!

 

[electricfuture]

I agree with MT on the following point:

Combining these credits brings our Leaf's base price down to $22,070, at which you're almost a fool not to buy it. And for you Thomas Paines out there flinching at this egregious government interventionism, would you be happier sending the petrodollars they'd otherwise consume here to overseas oil producers?

But they have chosen to ignore a huge factor with little more than a footnote:

(None of our CO2 numbers, by the way, includes the emissions owed to producing and transporting gasoline to stations, or, similarly, the fuels delivered to electrical powerplants.)

The Leaf "distribution" costs to my house was zero. From my breaker box I added 5' of conduit and a Blink Charger. But these are one time costs. Any gas, diesel or natural gas powered car requires raw product to refinery costs, delivery costs to your local stations and your drive to get the fuel - EVERY DAY for as long as you own it.

And what about oil changes, air and oil filters, mufflers, transmission oil changes, tune ups, emission testing? How could they possibly ignore these points? Wait a minute are these the same guys that called the Volt (that people don't want to buy) the Car of the Year?

 

[TomT]

I have significant tinnitus (too much flying and motorcycling in my younger years without adequate hearing protection) and hear it, but it is not bothersome to me in any way. In fact, I rather enjoy the sound... All the Leafs I have been in (four including mine) seem to have it at about the same level.

It's hard not to feel like this is just someone's attempt to make a mountain out of a mole hill, or simply give something sensational to read about. I am generally very sensitive to high pitched sounds and all I hear on occasion is the werr of the electric motor, much like one of the electric city bus's. Having heard about it a little on this board from users, it makes me think that some LEAF's have this much more than most. Has anyone with the issue tried driving another LEAF and see if they notice it?

 

[planet4ever]

But they have chosen to ignore a huge factor with little more than a footnote:

(None of our CO2 numbers, by the way, includes the emissions owed to producing and transporting gasoline to stations, or, similarly, the fuels delivered to electrical powerplants.)

The Leaf "distribution" costs to my house was zero. From my breaker box I added 5' of conduit and a Blink Charger. But these are one time costs. Any gas, diesel or natural gas powered car requires raw product to refinery costs, delivery costs to your local stations and your drive to get the fuel - EVERY DAY for as long as you own it.

Well there are some distribution costs for electricity. I don't have numbers, but I think it is a safe guess that more electricity "evaporates" between the power plant and the electric motor than gasoline evaporates between the refinery and the ICE. Those electric distribution losses do translate into extra CO2 unless the power plant is completely green.

The much bigger inequity in my mind is that they have included the emissions for producing electricity and excluded those for producing gasoline.

Ray

 

[evnow]

Most disappointing to me was that either the Prius or the Volt beat out the Leaf in almost every performance category. Both beat it in 45-65 passing, quarter mile, 60-0 braking, lateral acceleration, figure eight, 0-60, 0-70, 0-80 and 0-90. The only thing that the Leaf beat anything on was the Volt in 0-30 and the Prius in 0-40 and 0-50. So, I think we can stop saying that the Leaf is fast... They also said that it handled like a bowl of creem wheat and they hated the (lack of) steering feel... Still, they did say that the Leaf was "astonishingly well executed."

MT gave car of the year to Volt over Leaf. So, we can't really expect them to like Leaf now ...

Ofcorse Leaf is fast. As your statement shows - in will do well in traffic light grad prix. Few accelerate in real life from 0 to 60.

 

[abasile]

We own both a LEAF and a Prius, and hands down find the LEAF more fun to drive. It's smoother and more responsive. I do, however, prefer the heavier steering feel of the Prius.

 

[LEAFfan]

Since I drive mostly in 'N', I can barely hear the whine, not intrusive at all.
Also, I just saw today that MW (Motor Week) gave the Volt the most Eco-Friendly car (what a joke!) and Car of the Year. They must be like MT and are kissing GM's a**.