By Philip Ruth–
How do you like being green?
We define “being green” as taking deliberate steps to favor the environment in our decision-making. Most folks I know in the Bay Area do it to varying degrees, from ensuring the recycling container is free of contaminating items to growing vegetables with their own compost.
The extreme of going green with automobiles entails saying goodbye to the internal-combustion lifestyle. Gas stations with dirty nozzle handles, skimmers in the ATM card slots, fluorescent-lit stores bursting with junk food—it’s not something a lot of us would miss. Not to mention, the trail of pollution ever in your wake.
So it’s a big step to an EV. The two we’re examining this week—the Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf—interpret that step differently. The Chevy emphasizes the electric-car distinctions, while the Leaf normalizes them.
The Bolt and Leaf are priced similarly, but the Bolt currently enjoys a $5,500 discount off the top from Chevrolet. This reduces the entry price of a base Bolt LT to $31,995, and the fancier Bolt Premier adds $4,400 to the bottom line. The EPA figures the Bolt is good for 238 miles of range.
The lowest Leaf prices undercut the Bolt even with the discount, but you’d need to upgrade to the Plus versions of the Leaf’s three trim levels (S, SV, and SL) to get the more powerful battery that kicks the range over 200 miles—the non-Plus versions are EPA-rated for 151 miles, while the Plus versions claim 226 miles. Plus prices range from about $37,445 to $43,445.
While the Bolt is offered with substantial price reduction, it’s likely that a good deal could be found on the Leaf as well. Electric-car sales are withering our time of relatively cheap gas, making it a fine time to grab a deal if you’re EV-inclined.
The Bolt and Leaf make their own style statements. The Bolt has many eye-catching contours, and its chrome-lined rear pillars follow current crossover-SUV trends.
Your writer can’t stop seeing the Leaf as a four-wheeled pregnant duck. Refinements in this second-gen Leaf seem to pull the details inward, a stark contrast to the bold Bolt. Inside, the tested Leaf felt much like a normal Nissan, with mainstream controls and materials. Typical of the brand are the Leaf’s exceptionally comfortable and supportive front seats.
The Bolt is taller than the Leaf, but has a bit less headroom up front. The tested Bolt had the Light Ash Grey/Ceramic White interior trim, a bright antidote to the Leaf’s black surroundings. We’d opt for the Leaf’s Light Grey selection instead.
Some of the Bolt’s materials appeared unrefined, and the front door panels didn’t line up well with the dashboard, but the Chevy’s commanding driving position and better visibility felt like clear advantages.
The Bolt and Leaf are competitors with different approaches, though they’re similar in being attractive prospects in this period of EV discounts. Either are solid choices if you’re ready to make the jump.
Philip Ruth is a Castro-based automotive journalist and consultant ( www.gaycarguy.com ). Check out his automotive staging service at www.carstaging.com
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