Ask Nathan: How About an Electric Cadillac Truck, Chevrolet Bolt vs. Nissan Leaf, and Preferring Old Top Gear to TFL?

Here are this week's round of questions (and answers)

In this week’s Ask Nathan:

  • How about an electric Cadillac pickup truck?
  • Choosing between a Nissan Leaf and a Chevrolet Bolt.
  • I think I prefer old Top Gear to you guys at TFL.

The first question comes from a comment sent to asknathan@tflcar.com, regarding an EV Cadillac pickup truck.

Q: (via AskNathan@TFLcar.com) Okay, you answered my Buick pickup question but the same thing goes for a EV Cadillac pickup truck.

Thanks for answering my last question but I think this one is even more relevant because Cadillac has a lot more popularity.

– NDorhttps


A: Unlike Buick, an EV Cadillac pickup is slightly more likely, but it’s still doubtful.

Cadillac has a history of building trucks, unlike Buick. Their Escalade is on of their most popular offerings, by a wide margin. Briefly, they even built a pickup of sorts. The Cadillac Escalade EXT, which went out of production in 2013, was based on a Chevrolet Avalanche. That was their last attempt at a pickup truck.

Over the past few decades, may speculated that they would try to build a full-on pickup truck that’s luxury equipped like no other. Then, GMC began their popular Denali lineup, and pretty much ended the current rumors about Cadillac building a pickup. At least, for now.

If people are willing to spend stupid amounts of money on pickup trucks, why not?

GM’s Ultium platform has already proven adaptable for vehicles like the GMC Hummer, Chevrolet Silverado EV and Cadillac Lyriq – among others, who’s to say? Maybe the idea of an EV that can hold a dozen sets of golf clubs, heading to a club that just threw a guy like me out, might be tempting.

Before any of that happens, I suspect we’ll see an all-electric GMC variant of the EV Silverado first.

– N


The next question comes from a school teacher who’s comparing a Nissan Leaf to a Chevrolet Bolt.

Q: (AskNathan@TFLcar.com) Nathan, would you be willing to help me with choosing between a 2022 Chevy Bolt or a Nissan Leaf?

I don’t know much about these two cars. You have driven them both and seem to have an every-person perspective on what car you test. I really liked your Kia Carnival review you did. Actually, I hear about it on Colorado Public Radio when Nathan Heffel interviewed you and Roman. That was an informative show, by the by.

I recently moved from Monument, CO to Bakersfield, CA along with my partner and my middle schooler. We have one small dog and often do small excursions here and there. Over the past 10 years, I have loved my 2010 Toyota Prius. It has been fantastic and we’re keeping it until it dies. My partner will drive that, but I need something else.

I’ve seen many reviews about electric cars, including The Fast Lane reviews. You seem to like both cars I’m interested in. Right now, I am stuck between the Nissan Leaf Plus SV and a Chevy Bolt EUV LT. They are priced about the same, in the mid thirty thousand dollar range. But the Bolt comes down quite a bit with the purchase cash allowance. The price drops about $5,000 less than the Leaf.

I teach at a middle school which is about 16 miles away from my new home. There is a level two charger not far from the school, and I can use it if I need to. The vice principal is pushing to get some chargers for the staff on campus too. My lonest trips will be to the beach and Disneyland. Both are easy one way for both cars. They will need to charge for the trip home, and there’s plenty of chargers around for that.

It seems like the Chevy has a much better range than the Nissan. Can you give me a good reason why the Nissan Leaf might be a better choice? I know about some of the battery controversy, but I just want to know about which car provides a better driving experience.

Thanks Nathan!

— Ellen

A: They are very different vehicles, and the Nissan Leaf does make up for some of its inadequacies.

First of all, I commend you on holding on to your Prius hybrid. Having a vehicle that can go long range easily and efficiently, is a huge bonus. I often recommend to others that having a household EV along with a gas or hybrid vehicle is a smart bet.

Here is my driving perspective, and it’s up to you to test drive both vehicles. If possible, side-by-side, or at least on the same day. It’s the best way to get a better physical feel for the differences.

The 2022 Nissan Leaf Plus:

Nissan’s Leaf Plus is down on range, by 40+ miles, compared to the Bolt EUV. On top of that, the Bolt is a bit more sporty, and can be had for less. You would think I would immediately root for the Bolt; however, there are some real bonuses to owing the Leaf.

For one thing, it has a more utilitarian, larger interior. It’s more comfortable and handles better on the highway. On top of that, the Nissan Leaf has a better reputation for overall reliability. Sure, the battery tech is a bit old by comparison, but it’s pretty solid.

All of those reasons are why I pointed my brother to a Leaf Plus last year.

2022 Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV

The 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV:

I’m not diving into the recent battery issues, but you need to educate yourself on why Chevrolet is offering up to $6,300 off sticker.

I briefly drove the Bolt EUV, so hitting the race track, or long distance testing was out of the question. With that being said, it pretty much behaved like its smaller brother, the regular Chevy Bolt. It is very quick off the line, and it definitely outhandles the Nissan Leaf. It’s more maneuverable and the new tech from Chevy is mighty impressive.

As a fun car, one that has outstanding range, the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt is hard to beat. If it were mostly me using it as a commuter, I would hop on it in an instant. Being that I transport kids, drive lots of highways and whatnot, the Leaf is a (slightly) better pick for me.

You can find out more about the updated tax credit in our write-up here.

Good luck!

– N



The last question comes from a passive-aggressive fan who compares us to old Top Gear and the Grand Tour show.

TFL Studios - page featured image

Q: It’s not like I hate you guys, and I do this out of love. If you’re ever going to compare to the old chaps at original Top Gear and now Grand Tour, you must up your game!

Nathan, Roman, Tommy and Andre, you must listen! There is some potential here and I think you’re more enjoyable than the —- they call American Top Gear now. You need to go up a few notches and get better funding for better equipment and gear. Now that you are in the millions, you should be able to get funding from a sheik or bored billionaire. Find a way to manifest your destiny and find a way to pay Nathan and Andre more!

You can do it!

— Ezequiel L

One of our first adventure video series – “Prague to Pebble.” Over eight years ago.

A: Wow. Thanks.

While we do try to entertain while we inform, we’re not entertainers. Sure, I ham it up often, and we love to incorporate gags in our videos. That’s just our studio’s personality. Unfortunately, we simply cannot compete with shows that have massive budgets. Besides, those shows are not really consumer oriented, they are mostly about entertaining.

We like to think that our bazillion YouTube channels are there for consumer information. TFL Studios tries to be unique by providing a bit of personality along with our reviews. Then, there’s our adventure videos series. In some cases, we do builds, in others, we drive to difficult locations. Our first attempts were Prague to Pebble and Motor Mountain USA. Now we have video series like Northern Lightning and No Payment Needed, among many others. As such, we’re creeping into the entertainment territory that the big boys inhabit.

In the next few months, we are expecting to release (at least) three additional adventure and/or build video series!

We’re trying to keep our video series somewhat real, and interesting to folks who don’t have money to burn. We do have sponsors from time to time, but there’s no chronically rich person who’s throwing money at us. We have to fight for every penny we get for each video.

Thank you for the compliments, and for your continued patronage. I know we will continue to improve, change and evolve over time.

… but we may never meet your expectations.

Sorry.

– N

Speaking of changes…