_Chinese-made Coda electric sedan looks to plug in to U.S. market: AutoWeek Magazine_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979) Chinese-made Coda electric sedan looks to plug in to U.S. market
By _MARK VAUGHN_ (http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/personalia?ID=1000015&category=contact) _A picture of Coda sedan_ (http://www.autoweek.com/artikkel?avis=cw&dato=20090603&kategori=carnews&lopenr=906039979&ref=ar/car-pictures&template=photo) Coda sedan There's some competition for the Tesla Model S. Santa Monica, Calif.-based Coda Automotive unveiled its first _electric car_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) on Wednesday, and it's no golf cart. The Chinese-made, four-door, five-seat sedan has everything from Bluetooth and navigation to an iPod dock and a finished interior. The car will sticker for $45,000 when it goes on sale in fall 2010, but federal and state rebates could lower that to the mid-$30,000 range. Speaking of range, the Coda sedan will get between 90 and 120 miles of what the carmaker calls "real-world range" from its 728 prismatic lithium-ion batteries. Recharges take six hours on 220 volts. Top speed is a freeway-capable 80 mph. We rode in the passenger seat for a few blocks near Coda headquarters and found the car did, in fact, accelerate, turn and brake, so it's not just vaporware. It accelerated pretty smoothly, too. Our technician driver said the pedal software allows a progressive action to keep the wheels from spinning on launch. We couldn't tell how it felt to steer but all systems seemed to function just fine. The car was a prototype, so it might not be fair to judge the fit and finish we saw inside, but it was certainly ahead of that found on so-called neighborhood _electric vehicles_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) we've driven. Perhaps the most innovative thing about the Coda is its provenance. The design began life as a home-market Mitsubishi sedan that was then licensed to Chinese carmaker Hafei. Hafei makes an internal combustion version of this car, named Saibao, for sale in China. Rather than start from the ground up, Coda designed an _electric_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) powertrain to insert on the Saibao assembly line, along with about 95 changes to the chassis, thus saving about $1 billion dollars right off the bat. Coda says that the car has passed all U.S. government crash standards and Coda expects it to get--depending on who you ask--four or five stars in the NCAP test. Coda is a separate entity that grew out of Miles Electric Vehicles. Coda makes highway speed-capable EVs while Miles continues to manufacture low-speed EVs for sales to fleets. The batteries come from a joint venture with Chinese battery-maker Lishen, a major supplier of lithium-ion cells for computers and cell phones. The chemistry includes iron instead of cobalt in the lithium mix for increased battery life. "I think five or 10 years from now, we'll get cars with 1 million miles on the original battery pack," said Kevin Czinger, president and CEO of Coda. "Our thing is to create a mass-market car and still be profitable," added Czinger. "We have a price that is a fraction of what anybody else can do." Now let's see whether they can do it. To get more info, visit _www.codaautomotive.com_ (http://www.codaautomotive.com/) . To read more visit the AutoWeek _Car news, road tests, photos and insight_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/CARNEWS) section. This article was last updated on: 06/03/09, 21:40 et _Printer Friendly_ (http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Avis=CW&Dato=20090603&Kategori=CARNEWS&Lopenr=906039979&Ref=AR&template=printart) _Recommend (2) _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _ShareThis_ (javascript:void(0)) Report item as: (required) _X_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) Comment: (optional) (http://www.pluck.com/) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=53924&plckUserId=53924) _ltm999_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=53924&plckUserId=53924) wrote: I am sick of hearing about China. It is too much trouble to avoid buying Chinese junk for everyday items, but I can draw the line at major purchases from China. Any marketing expense trying to sell me a Chinese car is wasted. I am only 45 but I am willing to pay more, buy less often, or buy used to avoid driving a Chinese car as long as I live. 6/4/2009 12:21 PM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) 1 _2_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) _3_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) _4_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) _5_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) _6_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) _7_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) _8_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) _9_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) _>>_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) _Last_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#) _ Report item as: (required) X_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) Comment: (optional) (http://www.pluck.com/) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=53924&plckUserId=53924) _ltm999_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=53924&plckUserId=53924) wrote: I am sick of hearing about China. It is too much trouble to avoid buying Chinese junk for everyday items, but I can draw the line at major purchases from China. Any marketing expense trying to sell me a Chinese car is wasted. I am only 45 but I am willing to pay more, buy less often, or buy used to avoid driving a Chinese car as long as I live. 6/4/2009 12:21 PM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=64252&plckUserId=64252) _diesel4me_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=64252&plckUserId=64252) wrote: it's amazing how some people cannot understand this what the article is saying, "it's a prototype" 6/4/2009 12:16 PM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=110386&plckUserId=110386) _Arthur_ (http://www.autowe ek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=110386&plckUserId=110386) wrote: I seem to remember way back in the early 1900's very similar comments being made about the horseless carriages then being tried by adventuresome people! 6/4/2009 12:09 PM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=112116&plckUserId=112116) _Bellator_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=112116&plckUserId=112116) wrote: "...and a finished interior." Wow... Is that going to become a "feature" of the next-gen fleet? 6/4/2009 12:03 PM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=100476&plckUserId=100476) _m3chief_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=100476&plckUserId=100476) wrote: I for one, do not plan on buying one. 6/4/2009 11:53 AM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=110648&plckUserId=110648) _last_1le_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=110648&plckUserId=110648) wrote: Just what we need, a short circuit on wheels. If these things are engineered and built to the same standards as most other made in China products they'll self destruct the first time tehy're exposed to rain, or salt air, or recharging... 6/4/2009 11:32 AM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=58917&plckUserId=58917) _paul_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=58917&plckUserId=58917) wrote: When will the auto companies get it? People will not pay 45,000 for a car that they got to plug in and wait 6 hours to recharge!!! DUHHHH!!! People buy cars that are fun or practical, if you make fun reliable and practical cars that are a good value we will buy them (like Hondas) So now a company is going to produce an old body style Mitsibushi, make it uglier and charge twice the price of a Lancer and expect to make money????? And as for resale value, the buyer buys this car and is upside down until his last payment. At least the Fisker cars are beautil and exotic, that will at least give the buyer some value at trade in 6/4/2009 10:33 AM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=67580&plckUserId=67580) _Paul Landerman_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=67580&plckUserId=67580) wrote: 'Charasthmatic lithium' sportscars? Forget Teslarossa. This is what very Chery Bricklin needs to counter the FIAT 'Cuda. 6/4/2009 2:49 AM EDT _Recommend (1) _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=67580&plckUserId=67580) _Paul Landerman_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=67580&plckUserId=67580) wrote: Who has better teeth: the English or the Chinese? 6/4/2009 2:40 AM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=67580&plckUserId=67580) _Paul Landerman_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=67580&plckUserId=67580) wrote: I'll bet once the volume's up - say around five (5) units - the price will come way down... 6/4/2009 2:39 AM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=14170&plckUserId=14170) _HotRodW_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=14170&plckUserId=14170) wrote: Just what we need . . . government incentives to purchase even more Chinese products. 6/3/2009 11:06 PM EDT _Recommend (8) _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=100872&plckUserId=100872) _vwmatt33_ (http://www.autoweek.com/section/carlife_profile?uid=100872&plckUserId=100872) wrote: flop 6/3/2009 11:02 PM EDT _Recommend _ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) _Report Abuse_ (http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090603/CARNEWS/906039979#none) **************Limited Time Offers: Save big on popular laptops at Dell (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221354145x1201369495/aol?redir=http:%2F %2Fad.doubleclick.net%2Fclk%3B215221161%3B37268813%3By) _______________________________________________ Florida EAA mailing list [email protected] http://www.floridaeaa.org
