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Comparison of the Practical EV: Tesla Model 3, Chevy Bolt, Nissan Leaf

28 points by rising-sky 9y ago

RodericDay 9y ago
who reads/writes this garbage? > As for me, it’s about more than a couple of check box attributes, such as 310 miles of range or the existing Supercharger network. In broad-brush, the Bolt and Leaf are great cars but leaned-back EVs; they seem pushed onto the stage, hesitant in their groundbreaking roles. The Model 3 leans into the future with a reckless glee you cannot avoid noticing. Its infotainment and autonomous systems are still a work in progress, but new software features are being beamed in seemingly every night. Its Autopilot 2 is crazy ambitious; will it work without lidar? Electric cars are often dismissed for seeming soulless; the Tesla fills the void with human fantasies. You may need to talk yourself into a Bolt or a Leaf; you need to talk yourself out of paying the premium for this Model 3. > Taking all these factors into consideration, our finishing order in this first-ever comparison test of affordable long-range electric vehicles: Tesla Model 3 first, then the Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf. True, this is a $60,500 Model 3—but some say magic is priceless. Hey, Tesla fans, are your hands still up?
SpikeDad 9y ago
If anyone was expecting fair and reasonable comparison you haven't been reading auto magazines very long. Early in the article: >As if there weren’t enough built-in tension already in this test, Hong rolls a grenade into the big picture takeaway from the comparison: “Comparing this Model 3 to the Bolt and Leaf isn’t fair—like comparing a BMW 3 Series with a Camry or Accord.” Because they're comparing off the shelf standard equipped Bolt and Leaf with the top of the line Tesla with extended battery and advanced features. Sure it's because that's all they had but then they should have waited to do a review. But like tech journalism, auto journalist is all about the reads and clicks in the 21st century.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- nategri 9y ago
  Also bizarre how often they mention BMW in this article without ever once bringing up the i3.
  - rising-sky 9y ago
    Probably because the BMW i3 has the option of a range extending gasoline engine, so it's not a 100% electric vehicle, doesn't seem bizarre to me
- omgwtfbyobbq 9y ago
  I'm not sure if that's the base Leaf because Nissan doesn't appear to have pricing on their website, but they definitely tested a loaded Bolt. The base Bolt starts at $36,620 according to a quick search and the one MT tested was $43,905. Th big difference to me is that Tesla is the only one so far offering a larger battery and Autopilot/FSD, which add $17k to the price of the 3. Hopefully Tesla will make the base 3 available early next year so the base version of each car can be compared.
  - dubyah 9y ago
    The Leaf SL in the comparison is the top trim level available.
- mikestew 9y ago
  Thirty seven years ago Motor Trend declared the Chevy Citation their “Car of the Year”. My family owned one. Ignoring the aluminum block Vegas, that has to have been the biggest piece of shit ever to roll off a Chevy assembly line. Don’t believe me? Ask my Dad, who worked for GM at the time. But Motor Trend seemed to like it. I’ve tried to remember that any time I’ve read a Motor Trend article and asked, “WTF?”
  - RickJWag 9y ago
    Ha ha, good one. For me, Car and Driver is equally laughable.
maxxxxx 9y ago
Wow. The Tesla's price as tested is almost twice base. And I thought BMW is bad about this.
- jackhack 9y ago
  Yes, what a surprise that they ranked in order of price, but what did surprise me was how dramatic that price difference was: $60k Tesla, $41k Bolt, $37k Leaf. Who would have thought - a car that costs twice as much gives a better experience. A correlation between price and experience?
maxerickson 9y ago
"Practical". These are still quite expensive cars.
- lafar6502 9y ago
  And in practice one of these cars is not available.
- sokoloff 9y ago
  My (highly optioned) 2015 LEAF was $22K after incentives ($7500 in federal and $2500 in state cheese, a few grand in Nissan cash, a free level 2 charger, some dealer concessions, and 0% financing for 5 years). The 2018s are more (larger battery), but the net price will still be significantly cheaper than the average new car transaction price which is just a few dollars shy of $35K. (I tried to find the median; it was not easy and I gave up and took the average. I would bet that the median is still well over $27K.)
- xsmasher 9y ago
  The state and federal rebates have made a used Leaf a great deal; you can get them from 7-10k. Great car if your round-trip commute is 80 miles or less.
ucaetano 9y ago
Wait, they compared the $60,500 Tesla with the $43,905 Bolt and 2/3 of the reviewers chose the Bolt. The only one who chose the Tesla talks about how sub-par it is overall, with "infotainment and autonomous systems are still a work in progress", but "new software features are being beamed in seemingly every night" and then magically the Tesla comes out on top? That's before we go into "our finishing order in this first-ever comparison test of affordable long-range electric vehicles". "affordable". $60,500.
- omgwtfbyobbq 9y ago
  Yeah, I'm not super clear on how they chose the 3 either. I think mentioning the positives about the cars they didn't pick is normal though.

28 points by rising-sky 9y ago

who reads/writes this garbage? > As for me, it’s about more than a couple of check box attributes, such as 310 miles of range or the existing Supercharger network. In broad-brush, the Bolt and Leaf are great cars but leaned-back EVs; they seem pushed onto the stage, hesitant in their groundbreaking roles. The Model 3 leans into the future with a reckless glee you cannot avoid noticing. Its infotainment and autonomous systems are still a work in progress, but new software features are being beamed in seemingly every night. Its Autopilot 2 is crazy ambitious; will it work without lidar? Electric cars are often dismissed for seeming soulless; the Tesla fills the void with human fantasies. You may need to talk yourself into a Bolt or a Leaf; you need to talk yourself out of paying the premium for this Model 3. > Taking all these factors into consideration, our finishing order in this first-ever comparison test of affordable long-range electric vehicles: Tesla Model 3 first, then the Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf. True, this is a $60,500 Model 3—but some say magic is priceless. Hey, Tesla fans, are your hands still up?

SpikeDad 9y ago

If anyone was expecting fair and reasonable comparison you haven't been reading auto magazines very long. Early in the article: >As if there weren’t enough built-in tension already in this test, Hong rolls a grenade into the big picture takeaway from the comparison: “Comparing this Model 3 to the Bolt and Leaf isn’t fair—like comparing a BMW 3 Series with a Camry or Accord.” Because they're comparing off the shelf standard equipped Bolt and Leaf with the top of the line Tesla with extended battery and advanced features. Sure it's because that's all they had but then they should have waited to do a review. But like tech journalism, auto journalist is all about the reads and clicks in the 21st century.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
nategri 9y ago
Also bizarre how often they mention BMW in this article without ever once bringing up the i3.
- rising-sky 9y ago
  Probably because the BMW i3 has the option of a range extending gasoline engine, so it's not a 100% electric vehicle, doesn't seem bizarre to me
omgwtfbyobbq 9y ago
I'm not sure if that's the base Leaf because Nissan doesn't appear to have pricing on their website, but they definitely tested a loaded Bolt. The base Bolt starts at $36,620 according to a quick search and the one MT tested was $43,905. Th big difference to me is that Tesla is the only one so far offering a larger battery and Autopilot/FSD, which add $17k to the price of the 3. Hopefully Tesla will make the base 3 available early next year so the base version of each car can be compared.
- dubyah 9y ago
  The Leaf SL in the comparison is the top trim level available.
mikestew 9y ago
Thirty seven years ago Motor Trend declared the Chevy Citation their “Car of the Year”. My family owned one. Ignoring the aluminum block Vegas, that has to have been the biggest piece of shit ever to roll off a Chevy assembly line. Don’t believe me? Ask my Dad, who worked for GM at the time. But Motor Trend seemed to like it. I’ve tried to remember that any time I’ve read a Motor Trend article and asked, “WTF?”
- RickJWag 9y ago
  Ha ha, good one. For me, Car and Driver is equally laughable.

maxxxxx 9y ago

Wow. The Tesla's price as tested is almost twice base. And I thought BMW is bad about this.

jackhack 9y ago
Yes, what a surprise that they ranked in order of price, but what did surprise me was how dramatic that price difference was: $60k Tesla, $41k Bolt, $37k Leaf. Who would have thought - a car that costs twice as much gives a better experience. A correlation between price and experience?

maxerickson 9y ago

"Practical". These are still quite expensive cars.

lafar6502 9y ago
And in practice one of these cars is not available.
sokoloff 9y ago
My (highly optioned) 2015 LEAF was $22K after incentives ($7500 in federal and $2500 in state cheese, a few grand in Nissan cash, a free level 2 charger, some dealer concessions, and 0% financing for 5 years). The 2018s are more (larger battery), but the net price will still be significantly cheaper than the average new car transaction price which is just a few dollars shy of $35K. (I tried to find the median; it was not easy and I gave up and took the average. I would bet that the median is still well over $27K.)
xsmasher 9y ago
The state and federal rebates have made a used Leaf a great deal; you can get them from 7-10k. Great car if your round-trip commute is 80 miles or less.

ucaetano 9y ago

Wait, they compared the $60,500 Tesla with the $43,905 Bolt and 2/3 of the reviewers chose the Bolt. The only one who chose the Tesla talks about how sub-par it is overall, with "infotainment and autonomous systems are still a work in progress", but "new software features are being beamed in seemingly every night" and then magically the Tesla comes out on top? That's before we go into "our finishing order in this first-ever comparison test of affordable long-range electric vehicles". "affordable". $60,500.

omgwtfbyobbq 9y ago
Yeah, I'm not super clear on how they chose the 3 either. I think mentioning the positives about the cars they didn't pick is normal though.