2012 Volt Cheaper To Own Than 2012 Leaf, Says Kelley Blue Book
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The 2012 Chevrolet Volt might cost nearly $5,000 cheaper more than the 2012 Nissan Leaf, but over the next five years, it might cost you less to run.
At least, that’s the verdict of Kelley Blue Book (KBB) which crowned the 2012 Chevy Volt the electric choice in its inaugral Total Cost of Ownership awards.
Over the course of five years, it said, the total cost of ownership for a base level 2012 Volt would work out at $40,629, while the expected ownership costs for a base level 2012 Nissan Leaf for the same period total would be $42,089.
The 2012 Nissan Leaf is cheaper to buy and doesn’t use expensive gasoline, so how did KBB come to its conclusion?
It all boils down to other costs associated with ownership.
According to KBB, while it costs more to purchase, the 2012 Chevrolet Volt has lower maintenance and insurance costs than the 2012 Nissan Leaf, meaning over the same five year period it costs less to run.
What it doesn’t detail however, is what kind of power mix it based its calculations on. Or, to put it more bluntly, how many miles of electric and how many miles of gasoline travel were factored into its calculation.
“Even though the Nissan Leaf boasts a lower fair purchase price and racks up less in the way of depreciation, fuel costs and state fees,, the Volt’s slightly better maintenance figure and huge advantage in insurance costs make it number one,” KBB concluded.
We have a slightly different take.
Ultimately, car insurance costs will reflect dramatically on personal circumstance, claim history and your Zip code.
While insurance companies may generally put the 2012 Nissan Leaf in a higher insurance bracket than the 2012 Volt, your own personal situations will influence the insurance you get much more.
Live in a quiet neighborhood, have a clean driving license and be a low-risk driver, and the chances are you’ll be able to get a good deal on car insurance.
Live in a risky neighborhood, have a few traffic citations on your record and a few insurance claims under your belt, and it’ll cost you more.
Moreover, if you do a lot of long-distance driving in a Chevrolet Volt without recharging, your total cost of ownership will most certainly rise.
Our advice? Before making a choice on which plug-in car to buy, make sure you sit down and carefully plan expected expenses over the first few years of ownership.
To do that accurately, talk with existing owners about their own maintenance costs, research insurance quotes, and put them into a spreadsheet.
Don’t forget to include fuel in your cost analysis too, along with predicted mileage figures and any lease or finance fees for owning the car.
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Have an opinion?
The Volt and Leaf both require servicing, as per the instructions set out in their respective manuals.
You're right that the Leaf doesn't require the oil-changes that conventional gasoline cars (or the Volt) require -- but it may be that service costs are set higher for the Leaf than the Volt. We don't know, but will certainly look into it.
Insurance wise, the study found that in general, Volts were cheaper to insure than Leafs, hence the slightly cheaper operating costs over five years.
What service would there be that would be more expensive? The battery checks (the ONLY required service) is freaking FREE.
The people who wrote this article and KBB are SERIOUSLY misinformed.
There's not a huge difference here, but insurance looks at these things.
How can the Volt possibly be cheaper to maintain with a complex hybrid system that includes an ICE?
Is this Nissan throwing the dealers a bone to make a little money on maintenance since it is near 0 otherwise?
The Volt brake fluid is not made out of magic.
Anybody know why the Leaf brake fluid is so fragile?
My Volt cost about $600 a year to insure. My 11 year old BMW cost twice that.
INS base their rates on how likely it is that passengers will get killed or hurt in a car. Safety and medical costs take priority over car repair costs.
Anybody know the cost of replacing the LEAF battery?
I'm curious: When have we been biased towards GM? We're often accused of the opposite, in fact.
I hope you'll note that the article itself repots the findings of another organisation. This isn't something that we (GreenCarReports) concluded. Rather, we're reporting someone else's findings.
You can tell this because we've used words like "according" in our reporting.
Finally, in the interests of full disclosure. I'm a Leaf owner myself.
a typical EV basher article only says how much better EVs are not but declines to explain why
Since 90% of the people here still can't seem to get that the insurance seems to be the delta here, not maintyenance per se, I just did what many of you might want to do, called my insurance company and got quotes for the two vehicles.
Answer: for me, in MI, $680/yr. for the Volt (about the same as my 2008 A4), $1,160 for the LEAF.
But facts are for people without agendas, of course. Don't actually check the claims, keep stating the same things.
Do you really believe 10 years will be normal, and 5 years the exception?
Have an opinion?Join the conversation!