Ohhhhh okay you're right. I forgot the only thing that matters in a car is the exterior. You'd better call up Coda quick and tell them to stop paying all those engineers working on the battery system and drivetrain.
Which pic is from my "old" article, and which is from the CODA website?
Here is the car with the older front fascia, it's otherwise identical. This one has a gasoline engine and thus needs the grill opening.
Ohhhhh okay you're right. I forgot the only thing that matters in a car is the exterior. You'd better call up Coda quick and tell them to stop paying all those engineers working on the battery system and drivetrain.
Re-engineered is the key word here. While they may share the same body style, the similarities end there. Coda has had a team of engineers in Los Angeles redesigning the car for maximum efficiency since 2009. It's not like they are taking a crappy Chinese car and sticking a battery in it, everything is completely redesigned. I see absolutely nothing wrong with taking a flawed design and improving upon it in order to make it a now excellent design.
Who the fuck would seriously consider buying that CODA POS? I think Id feel safer riding my bike at 5PM in south beach than driving that chinese shitbox.
You adamantly deny it is the same car as the Chinese car. Yet CODA said they started from the crappy Chinese car.
I am confused here, do you know about this car more than CODA itself?
You are delusional if you think everything is completely redesigned.
Smart car is retarded.
And I wouldn't trust a Chinese car. I don't trust half the stuff made in China as it is already. Sorry but they have too much of a reputation for cutting corners at every possible moment, ripping off others designs and making cheap crap imitations, etc...
As you can tell, I am not a fan of Chinese manufacturing (nor several other aspects of China as well, but those don't pertain to this thread or this section).
Slothfish, try not to get so butthurt when people "attack" your point of view, when they're really just challenging it. You come across as (1) blindly regurgitating promotional information from CODA and (2) insistent on taking said information at face value without any experience in a related field or even a hint of critical thinking.
To take an example, your claim of "the battery pack will last 300,000 miles" is so fraught with optimism and ignorance it is simply painful. I can see exactly how you (or CODA) did the math: 150miles/charge * 2000 useful charge cycles (80% capacity) = 300,000 miles. Whomever did the calculation neglected things like battery degradation due to physical damage, temperature cycles, and over charging and discharging. Also neglected was use of significant climate control power, all of the test drives seem have been done in California, which does not by any means have extreme temperatures either hot or cold. I wonder what the range would look like in a New England winter day when it's -20F, the battery has limited power due to the cold, and I need a heater on to combat 80 deg temperature difference. Or take it to AZ and try to combat 120F+ heat with the AC. There is no way this 300,000 miles life will be true, but you vouch for it as fact and anyone would be dumb to not accept it.
The range is impressive at face value, 150 miles, woo! Though none of the testers managed to get there. Sure they might have broken the 100mile range, but that's a far cry from 150miles. Also, considering CODA's expected EPA range of 105miles with a 36kWh battery isn't too impressive from a vehicle efficiency standpoint. The Leaf gets an EPA range of 73 miles with a 24kWh pack. This is more efficient from a overall vehicle viewpoint, and it has a range more tuned to a typical commute in my opinion.
The leaf is also being sold, which is a tremendous accomplishment. Until CODA's car actually passes every test and qualification AND is being sold at a reasonable price, it's all just theoretical. It only takes flunking one big test for the car to be largely scrapped and sent back to the drawing board.
My point is this: in ATG, expect to have to defend your points with hard facts that are not glossed over by promotional glitz or the engineer who's made this car his/her baby. Don't make wild claims like 'this car is light-years ahead of everything else' without actually have technical experience in a field even semi-related to the topic. Don't get butt-hurt if someone disagrees with you.
FTR: I am a mechanical engineer who works with batteries and battery modeling, particularly lithium ion based batteries as of late.
Thank you for your well thought out response! This is all I have been asking for lol, some kind of educated discussion on the topic.
I assure you, I am not butthurt in the least bit. I know better than to get worked up over immature know-it-alls, I'm sorry if I have represented myself any differently. Like I have previously stated, I was originally just trying to provide a better option (in my opinion) than the Nissan Leaf to users that were interested in purchasing an electric car.
I understand that companies falsify promotional information for positive press, I am not an ignorant consumer. Almost every statistic I have forwarded to the community I have obtained from third party reviews, and anything I have heard directly from Coda I have made very clear that I am not sure about. You are correct in your assumption of how I came to the 300,000 mile battery conclusion. I did, however take the BS meter into account because I obtained these "facts" from Gow himself, an employee of Coda. There are apparently 3000 useful charge cycles, not 2000, I used the 2000 figure to account for a possible misrepresentation by a company employee. Besides, Coda offers a 100,000 mile warranty on the battery system. The warranty alone speaks volumes for Coda's confidence that their battery is the best out yet.
According to third party reviews, the battery temperature regulation system is great, and in theory should keep the battery around 70F at all times. Coda has tested this in both Death Valley heat (California definitely has extremes) and in Michigan cold. One particular review by Edmunds was done with 2 passengers on hilly terrain in extreme L.A. traffic in high 90 degree weather (constant A/C), and the car still had more than 10% charge left after the 105-mile test drive.
As for the EPA estimates, the Coda has shown in every recent review that it is more than capable of reaching 110 miles in relatively harsh conditions. The Leaf, on the other hand, has not favored so well, undershooting it's EPA estimate by quite a significant amount in many tests. Car and Driver did a long-term test on the Leaf, for example, and recorded an average 50 mile per charge range; pretty terrible in my personal opinion. Now, until someone does a long-term test on the Coda, everything is just speculation with short-term reviews to back it up- but it seems promising. That is all I have really been saying all along.
All in all, I think my viewpoint has been largely misunderstood even though I have laid it out pretty blatantly several times. I in no way expect the Coda to be the most incredible electric car ever, I am simply hopeful that it will live up to the specifications that third parties have been reporting. So far I have not seen another electric car with specs as promising as Coda's, and all I was ever doing was relaying this info to prospective Leaf buyers.
As someone with supposedly far more experience in the field than myself, I sincerely appreciate your input. If you possess any knowledge of a superior vehicle (released or not), I urge you to share it with myself and anyone else that is interested. Thanks!
How can you call it a better option when it isn't even an option yet?
Where is this Edmunds review you referred to? I tried searching for Coda review on edmunds and got nothing of sort.
Leaf is a real shipping product, so is Tesla, Volt and Karma. Until we see an actual sold product, there is really no need to push CODA.
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/...-delivery-first-one-goes-to-investor-ray-lane
and please link to the recent reviews you alluded to. I would like to read them.
On another note, someone posted on the Insight forums that they may be interested in an Insight.
They later posted that they decided to get a used Smart ForTwo instead.
I died a little inside.
To be clear: I never said I had far more experience than anyone, I just have some.
CODA's battery warranty of 100k miles is the same as the Leaf's. [wiki] It is also the same expected life as the Tesla Roadster's pack.
I would reserve judgement on C&D's mileage reviews until the CODA has been tested out more thoroughly. I'd bet any sum of money I could make the CODA's range look pathetic, and C&D is notoriously hard on test cars.
BTW: C&D reported an average range of 58 miles, not 50.
As for a better option than the CODA, here is one mentioned in another active thread. The Tesla S. Bigger, faster, better range options, much better styling IMHO, but more expensive.
On another note, someone posted on the Insight forums that they may be interested in an Insight.
They later posted that they decided to get a used Smart ForTwo instead.
I died a little inside.
Asshole deserves to have his car smashed. Left no maneuvering room for others to get out of or in a parallel park spot.
Looking at the EPA mileage report for the car though, low 30s in town is the expected rate. There are larger and, uh, safer cars which meet or exceed that number.
I'd just like to point out that the computer you typed that on is probably made in China. And probably your chair too. And your desk...
My point is that people hate on Chinese products so much, but fail to realize that over 40% of products sold in the US are made in China. That doesn't even account for the Chinese parts that are assembled into American products. If we stopped buying Chinese parts and products, our economy would fail, plain and simple.