After personally driving each one of these vehicles and doing much research I think the general public does not fully grasp the merits of these vehicles. Each has its own merits and anyone of the three is in a league of their own. I noticed that even sales people at their respective dealerships do not take time to fully understand their competitors brand, so I doubt that the public will get the most accurate information from some sales people.
I think the engineering and design and materials in these vehicles far surpasses even the msrp pricing that is asked for these vehicles. Take the volt for instance it uses a powerful 16kw (16.5kw for 20130 lithium battery pack to push a vehicle weighing
it utilizes an 18qt active thermal liquid cooling system for the power control electronics, generator,and battery pack systems.
Builtin ABS and regenerative braking system, 4 large disc brake system, all speed traction control with stabilink. This is just some
of the technology.
The Toyota Hybrid brand has a decade lead on its other competitors and even licenses out its technology. The Hybrid has gone from a novelty car or just for eco green folks to a more main stream car. Fortunately Toyota overdesigned this vehicle and I believe without its successful launch we would not have the renaissance in the hybrid and electric car market today. Nearly all manufacturers are
turning toward hybrid or electric technology.
The Leaf is in unchartered territory and may lead the way into the growth of new charging infrastructure with charging stations for the public to encourage us not to rely totally on fuel. It is an amazing experience to drive in total freedom from petro on the highway, even though the gps nav system with nearest charging station is interesting, it shows how advanced the car is versus the current or lack of infrastructure or maybe its using latest apple IOS without Google map function? Hopefully its not too far ahead of its time, Nissan should be applauded for committing to such an endeavor with a
well thought out design. Maybe this will create many jobs in updating the nations electrical grid to encourage more vehicles like this without worrying about range anxiety. I think if everyone could afford one and went out and bought one our electrical grid sytem would collapse, especially in the summer, this really needs some attention if we are serious about electrical technology.
So there is no one best car between the volt, toyota hybrid, and leaf. This all depends on each person’s situation such as commuting distance, miles driven daily, wether its a primary car or not, how is their current local infrastructure, enough down time to full charge car between usage.
Yes there are other electric hybrid cars just comparing these three brands as they are pretty much the leaders in their prospective group.