Consumer Reports has gotten into the competitve spirit of March Madness and has created Moto Madness. Moto Madness pits cars of similar aspects against one another until there is one champion to rule the automotive world. This is your chance to show that the Prius is way better than the Volt, so go on over to http://www.crdashboard.org and vote for the Prius and for your favorites from the other categories. Just in case you need some help remembering who to vote for, refer to the image above. http://www.crdashboard.org/
I'm voting for the Prius but I've still got enough high octane running through my veins to vote for the Corvette too!
So the Prius is better because more people vote for it? I don't think so! Talk about "March madness"!! Nice waste of time and resources!
10 years of satisfied owners will crush a new car, despite it's merits or lack thereof. Only Motor Trend editors would vote for the Volt. (mind you, they were not allowed to vote for the Prius)
Volt has an electric plug and a gasoline cap. It uses both forms of energy; and therefore, is a hybrid. The Leaf, on the other hand, is not a hybrid because it only uses one energy source; electricity. A full-size SUV (Ford Expedition gets EPA 14/19 mpg. Chevy Suburban gets EPA 15/21mpg) is not a hybrid because it only uses one energy source; blood.
I guess the millions upon millions of satisfied Chevy Volt owners were just too much for the humble little Toyota Prius contingent.
BAHHHHH ! ! ! You want an over-the-top look-at-me - way too FAST - needless fuel burner? Ahhhhh . . . to be young and foolish again
I hope the contest between Ford's offering against the Volt hurrys along ... if Volt's production ends as fast as the Hummer's production did, the results would be meaningless.
As someone whose mother brought him up on Consumer Reports car ratings because of their honest objective quality, I am deeply depressed that CR has gotten into the stupid vote for one thing or the other despite knowing nothing about either sort of popularity game. In the immortal word of Charles Schulz, AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!
Even though this is a bit late, the Volt is a plug-in parallel hybrid that has an electric only top end of about 70mph, but the gas motor runs to top up the batteries until it directly drives the wheels at 70 or so. What that means is the Volt is merely a hybrid. It is not an "electric" car in any sense of the word, like unto the Leaf. So the Leaf comparison won't work. MPG for the Volt with a full tank running to empty is only about 41 mpg, not including the mgp cost to charge the battery from the outlet. The Insight, on the other hand, has such horrible battery problems that the TSB calls for reflashing the ECU so that the batteries are hardly used at all. That way they die outside of warranty and Honda doesn't have to pay for their replacement. So the Insight is really just a mild hybrid, like unto the Tahoe. I don't know how the Volt is a winner, unless it is a hyped Sheen sort of winner. Duh!
I don't think merely is a good term, how about its great because its a hybrid. The volt is a plug-in serial/parallel hybrid like the planned prius phv. The car can go up to 99 mph in electric mode and has a full electric range good enough for most americans comutes. This allows it to be a full time electric for some, which got marketed as extended range ev. The prius phv is a blended mode phev, where the engine kicks in under load even with battery power. The EV range is much shorter than the leaf which is much shorter than the tesla. I assume that chevy thought hybrid was a bad word so is trying to call the volt something different. If that is how people will use it, it will be truely a disaster. But this is not how drivers will drive it. They will charge it up before the gas tank is empty except on long trips. The way honda is handling this is horrible. The insight is not a full hybrid, but when driven for mileage gets close to prius mileage. Hyundai, Infiniti, porsche and others have added another clutch to allow the car to run on electricity alone making similar cars full hybrids. Lol. Its a popularity contest. I think many still think of hybrid as a bad thing, and the prius is the poster boy. Much of this has to do with animosity towards prius drivers. When you let someone behind the wheel of the prius, especially one with 17" tires, they start to understand most of the problems are fud. Most that voted have never been in a prius or a volt. CR madness. EPIC Fail when it comes to actually picking the best car.
The Volt is not a parallel only hybrid , it is a series/parallel hybrid and uses a power split device similar (but certainly not identical) to the Prius. The top electric speed on the Volt is 100 mph both in electric only or in CS mode.
