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Nissan LEAF Sprints Past Chevrolet Volt in First-half Sales

There are a lot of other electric vehicles coming this year, but somehow the race between the Nissan LEAF and the Chevrolet Volt has captured everyone’s imagination. People are naturally curious who's got the formula for their car right in order to sell bigger numbers.

Here’s what we mean by formula: Nissan has gone for a zero-emission approach with the LEAF, which only has an electric motor and batteries onboard, while GM had previous experience with EVs, as it made the EV1 during the 90s, and wants to make sure people don’t get range anxiety. As a result, the Volt has been fitted with a conventional gasoline engine that doesn’t power the wheels but acts as a range extender.

However, this may have cost them in the short term sales battle, as the LEAF has sprinted past in the first half of this year. A total of 3,875 electric Nissans have been sold, including the record that the Japanese carmaker was aiming for - 1,708 in the single month of June.

In the first half of the year, Chevrolet managed to sell only 2,745 units of the Volt, including just 561 in June. The first month of the summer has changed the figures profoundly, as throughout May, the Volt was ahead in year-to-date sales.

If you take away the tax deductions an incentives, the LEAF actually would cost $33,630 in the US, while the Volt would be $41,000, yet brand image surely must play a big part in the battle.

Both the Japanese and American carmakers have a lot of money riding on the success of these cars, but a number of other big names in the industry are going to arrive with their EV products soon.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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