A number of articles have surfaced this morning indicating the marketplace is losing interest in the Chevy Volt. A lengthy take is here. A contrarian viewpoint is here.

The Nissan Leaf has taken the lead from the Chevy Volt in U.S. electric car sales, despite a slow start to production and difficulties in acquiring cars for American consumers due to the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March.

In a battle of the greenest, most fuel-efficient cars on the market, the diminutive all-electric Leaf has had 3,708 cars delivered so far this year, compared to the almost-all-electric Volt’s 2,745. Nissan and Chevy said that they each expect to sell 12,000 by the end of 2011.

Although there’s growing demand for the gas-sipping cars, the base sticker price of the vehicles before government incentives — $33,000 for the Leaf and $41,000 for the Volt— keeps them beyond the reach of what many U.S. consumers can afford.

Although the resulting sales figures are small, George Peterson, an analyst with the California-based consulting firm AutoPacific, said that may be the way Nissan and Chevy want it for now. “From a sales standpoint, Nissan and Chevrolet have been very cautious, wanting to make sure these vehicles are as bulletproof as possible, taking time to thoroughly inspect and check everything,” Peterson said.

Peterson said that he expects sales of electric vehicles like the Leaf and Volt to increase to about 3 percent of total car sales and that the cars will remain a niche purchase. “We’re not going to see hundreds of thousands of these on the road,” Peterson said.

Sources

“Nissan Leaf Steals Sales Lead On Chevy Volt,” AutoGuide.com, July 5, 2011.

A lot of people who started saving money on their monthly bills by switching from their electric utility to an alternative electric supplier are also probably interested in cutting other energy costs, such as gasoline. For those looking to trade in that old gas-guzzling clunker for a shiny new gas-sipper — but aren’t interested in electric drive vehicles like the Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf — here’s a list of cars available in the U.S. that, according to a range of critics, lead their segments in fuel efficiency.

Two-Seaters: Honda CR-Z (35 City / 39 Hwy / 37 Combined)

Honda’s CR-Z sport hybrid is the Mighty Mouse of fuel-efficient cars. An inline 4-cylinder gas engine produces 122 horsepower and 128 foot-pounds of torque. An electric motor adds another 13 horsepower and a not-insignificant 58 foot-pounds of torque.

Transmission: AV-S7 Automatic

Fuel to drive 25 miles: 0.68 gallons

Miles on a tank: 353

Minicompact Cars: MINI Cooper (27 City / 37 Hwy / 32 Combined)

When BMW bought the Mini brand and re-launched it in 2001, they unleashed the MINI Cooper, a car that has managed to be both a fun-to-drive racer and a fuel-efficient city commuter. The one downside to its efficiency? Premium gas.

Transmission: 6-Speed Manual

Fuel to drive 25 miles: 0.78 gallons

Miles on a tank: 380

Subcompact Cars: Ford Fiesta SFE (29 City / 40 Hwy / 33 Combined)

It's no secret that American automakers have long struggled to field a small car to compete with offerings out of Japan. However, many reviewers believe Ford may have finally succeeded in the Fiesta. As one automotive critic said, "Many months before we drove the first U.S.-spec Fiesta, Ford gave us a week behind the wheel of the European version. Some of us were impressed, others blown away, and everyone shared the same sentiment: 'I hope they don't ruin the U.S. version.' Hallelujah, they didn't."

Transmission: AM6 Automatic

Fuel to drive 25 miles: 0.76 gallons

Miles on a tank: 395

Compact Cars: Lexus CT 200h (43 City / 40 Hwy / 42 Combined)

The Lexus CT 200h gets great fuel economy because it shares its powertrain with the Prius. But this hybrid hatchback is a Lexus, through and through. Surprisingly, it’s also the most affordable vehicle Lexus makes.

Transmission: CVT Automatic

Fuel to drive 25 miles: 0.60 gallons

Miles on a tank: 374

Midsize Cars: Toyota Prius Hybrid (51 City / 48 Hwy / 50 Combined)

What can be said about the Toyota Prius that hasn’t already been said? Love it or hate it, the Prius gets a combined 50 miles to the gallon — better gas mileage than any other car on this list. With numbers like that, it’s no surprise that in April, cumulative Prius sales in the U.S. hit the two million mark.

Transmission: CVT Automatic

Fuel to drive 25 miles: 0.50 gallons

Miles on a tank: 536

Large Cars: Hyundai Sonata (24 City / 35 Hwy / 28 Combined)

Hyundai has made a family sedan that competes favorably with other sedans from Germany, Japan, and the United States.

Transmission: 6-Speed Manual

Fuel to drive 25 miles: 0.89 gallons

Miles on a tank: 466

Small Station Wagons: Audi A3 and Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen (30 City / 42 Hwy / 34 Combined)

The Audi A3 and Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen share the same numbers when it comes to fuel efficiency and emissions. There are differences, though. One’s an automatic Audi and the other’s a manual Volkswagen. The key to their economy? Diesel fuel.

Transmission: 6-Speed Automatic (Audi A3); 6-Speed Manual (Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen)

Fuel to drive 25 miles: 0.74 gallons

Miles on a tank: 444

Midsize Station Wagons: Kia Rondo (20 City / 27 Hwy / 22 Combined)

Kia stopped making the Rondo in 2009, but it’s still king of the hill when it comes to fuel-efficient midsize station wagons.

Transmission: 4-Speed Automatic

Fuel to drive 25 miles: 1.14 gallons

Miles on a tank: 313

Just for fun, would you like to know what the least fuel-efficient car in the world is? It’s the Bugatti Veyron, a 16-cylinder, 8.0-liter rocket on wheels that will go from zero to a bazillion in the blink of an eye. But then again, so will your gas bill. The Veyron gets a whopping 8 miles to the gallon in the city and a mere 15 on the open road. However, if you can afford the Veyron, which costs over a million dollars, you might be able to stomach the higher gas bill.

Sources

“2011 Lexus CT 200h is a Foxy, Feisty Take on the Prius,” USA Today, May 9, 2011.

“2011 Honda CR-Z EX — Road Test,” Car and Driver, September 2010.

Edmunds.com, “Audi A3 Review.”

Edmunds.com, “Hyundai Sonata Review.”

Edmunds.com, “Kia Rondo Review.”

FuelEconomy.gov, “2011Most and Least Fuel Efficient Vehicles.”

Kelley Blue Book, “2011 Ford Fiesta Review: You're Not Gonna Believe This.”

U.S. News & World Report: Best Cars & Trucks, “2011 MINI Cooper.”

U.S. News & World Report: Best Cars & Trucks, “2011 Toyota Prius.”

U.S. News & World Report: Best Cars & Trucks, “2011 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen.”

Shawn Zurawski heads up Circle Public Relations, a PR firm we work with in Chicago. As indicated below, she had the opportunity to spend a week with the Chevy Volt. She was happy to share her experience with the car below. – Spark Energy Blog Editors

When Shawn Zurawski first learned that she would be participating in General Motors’ Ride and Drive Event in Chicago, she was excited about the opportunity to drive a new car around the Windy City for seven days in April. When she found out that GM was going to let her try out the all-new electric-powered Volt — while her friend was handed the keys to a Cadillac Escalade — she was a little disappointed. But a week later, when GM came to take the Volt back, she had a hard time saying goodbye.

“My husband and I are married to big vehicles,” said Zurawski, the head of a Chicago-based public relations firm and a mother of three who owns a minivan to haul the family and a full-size SUV to haul the family boat. “But we really liked the Volt. It was great. And after a week of driving it, we realized that a compact car could really work for us.”

The best part, according to Zurawski, was driving past gas stations without giving them a second thought. “The Volt was great for zipping around town, which we could do on a single charge,” she said. “We never once had to worry about buying gas,” which she said hovered around $4.15 a gallon in Chicago last week.

How it’s Charged

Zurawski was skeptical when GM first dropped off her shiny red Volt. After all, it was small, electric, had a lot of new technology, and she wasn’t really sure how it worked or how it was charged. After a short tutorial by GM, however, she realized just how easy it would be to operate the Volt.

“It’s pretty simple,” Zurawski said. “The Volt comes with this device that looks like a power tool with a long extension cord. All you do is plug one end of the charger into the car and the other end into a normal 120-volt outlet. When we were done for the day, we just parked the car in our driveway and plugged it into the regular electric outlet on our front porch. The Volt had a full charge by morning.”

“If you have a 240-volt outlet and get the 240-volt charger from Chevy, you can charge the Volt in about four hours, but we found that charging overnight worked fine,” she added.

Despite forgetting to charge the car the first night they had it — which meant the Volt had to run on gas the following day — the Volt worked perfectly. Zurawski said her husband Mark drove the car every day to and from the hospital where he works. When he got home, Zurawski took the car to pick up her three children, who attend three different schools. In all, she said her family probably averaged between 30 and 40 miles a day in the Volt.

“Like a Video Game”

“The kids loved it,” she said. “The interior of the Volt is like a video game, with lots of digital graphics, touch panels and noises like video games make. The kids also got a big kick out of OnStar; we made phone calls from it all the time. They’re very disappointed the Volt’s gone.”

The Volt’s digital environment wasn’t just all fun and games, though. Zurawski said that the feedback provided by the information center helped her change her driving habits.

“The best way I can describe the dashboard’s information center is that it’s like a Wii Fit,” Zurawski said. “There’s this very graphic, digital display with a green ball that you try to keep in the center during acceleration and braking in order to maximize your mileage. If the ball is too high or two low, then you know you’re either accelerating or braking too fast or two slow and it makes you want to modify your driving behavior to keep that green ball in the middle.”

“The information center is a real eye-opener,” she said.

In the end, Zurawski and her family were impressed by Motor Trend’s Car of the Year and were sad to see it go. But it was a neighbor’s commentary that perhaps best described what GM engineers were able to accomplish with the Volt. When the car first arrived, Zurawski’s grandmother showed it to her neighbor, Lois. “I’m 85 years old,” Lois said, “and I never thought I’d live to see the day they made an electric car.”

“They did it,” Lois said. “They actually did it.”