Cars.com Gives Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf a Real World Road Test

DETROIT (WJBK) -- The Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf are two popular electric vehicles, but how do they perform on the road?

"As cars, we like them a lot. Everyone, I think, envisions an electric vehicle as being like a glorified golf cart and they're not," said Cars.com Executive Editor Joe Wiesenfelder.

Cars.com bought one of each and put them to a real world road test for a year. They racked up thousands of miles without burning a single gallon of gas.

"They're quiet. They're comfortable. We've had no real issues with them," Wiesenfelder explained.

However, he says electrics are not for everyone. One big consideration is cost. The Volt starts at about $39,000. The Leaf -- $36,000. You can get up to a $7,500 tax credit, but you'll need a home charging station, which runs around $2,000.

"It's consistently cheaper to travel on electric power. The problem is you pay more for the car in the first place," Wiesenfelder said.

He says once they're purchased, the cars tend to cost about half of what it costs to operate a gas powered vehicle.

The real world road test did come with some bumps in the road. One Cars.com staffer crashed the Volt, doing more than $14,000 in damage. There were also plugs that failed, an incident where a rat chewed through the electric wiring, and some electric anxiety about battery range.

The Volt runs 25 to 50 miles on a charge; the Leaf 70 to 100 miles.

"With that kind of car, if you run out of charge, you're done. You need to get a flatbed," said Wiesenfelder. "Generally speaking, we give both of these cars the thumbs up. We really like them as cars. That doesn't answer the question whether they're worth the money."

If you're in a market for a car and you're thinking green, the experts say it's important to do your research.

You can read more about the Volt and the Leaf at Cars.com.