Electricnick, The EV Revolution

Coda Automotive says they will be ready to deliver their electric vehicle, EV by next August.  Can they achieve this deadline?

The gist is that if Kevin Czinger, CEO of Coda Automotive can meet this deadline, their EV would beat Nissan’s Leaf and the Chevy Volt into production.  Paul Scott from Plug In America spent sometime with Kevin CEO of the Coda prototype.

From Highway To Coda.  Coda was spun off from Miles Automotive and while we do not feel its design will win any awards soon, its performance make it a good alternative.  Coda plans to produce 2,000 EVs the first year and sale 40% to fleets, 60% to private hands.  They would manufacture 20,000 afterward.

Technically Speaking.  There are a few interesting details about the Coda.  First, it will have a 100 mile range as per the US06 driving cycle.  The Lithium Iron Phosphate, LiFePo battery pack weighs at 700 lb. and is rated at 33.7 kWh, with 333V.  The packs have been tested to over 1500 cycles, the equivalent of 8 year, or 100,000 mile warranty and its battery cells price is below $600 kWh, which makes very close to gas prices these days.

While we originally quoted prices to be around $45,000, according to Kevin, it should be closer to $32,000 after tax credits.

Final Thoughts.  While the price might seem steep to some, an EV requires close to no maintenance for the first 50,000 or so miles.  Considering the price of electricity to power it, it makes the car very reasonable.  So far it is too soon to see if they can deliver it by next August but if they could lower the price by another $5,000, it would be a slam dunk deal.