China May Be First To Launch Electric Car In The U.S.
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According to an article over at the Technology Review site, a car from Coda Automotive located in China, could be the first company to launch an electric car in the U.S. The vehicle which will have a price tag of about $45k, could sell for about $30k after governmental rebates. The car will get about 100 miles between charges, which can be charged in about 8 minutes. Sound good? Maybe too good.
In addition to trying to bring the car to market ahead of its competition, Coda hopes to distinguish itself with its battery system, which it developed in cooperation with Tianjin Lishen, a major lithium-ion battery maker based in China, and other companies that specialize in different aspects of the battery system, such as the electronic controls. Kevin Czinger, Coda’s president and CEO, says that the company jointly owns the factory that makes the battery packs, which will help Coda ensure a steady supply of batteries. This is also true for the Japanese automakers Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Nissan, but he says that his company is ramping up production for electric vehicles faster. By the end of the year, the company’s battery factory will be able to produce 20,000 packs a year. “The scale and speed with which we’re doing it are very different than the Japanese,” Czinger says. “The ownership of mass manufacturing of the battery system distinguishes us from everybody else.”
There is some good news. Once the car goes into production it is hoped that the price will eventually be about $25k without rebates.
Comments welcome.
8 Comments
andyfromgeeks
June 19th, 2009
at 5:02pm
This would really be useful. I know that 100 miles might not seem like much, but really, when you are in the city you go for about 30 each day. Now about the 8 minutes charging thing, where are you supposed to “charge” a car. This has its pros and its cons but overall i think its great. Need more info on it.
-Andy
Lloyd Severence
June 19th, 2009
at 5:12pm
Unfortunately for CODA, Tesla Motors is the world’s leading manufacturer of fully electric vehicles and is based in the United States. They have been selling the Roadster for a few years now, and are releasing a new Model S 4-door Sedan with a 300 mile range and 45 minute recharge.
They also claim they have completely fixed battery memory issues, so you will not lose charge capacity over a finite period of time.
Aaron
June 19th, 2009
at 5:51pm
Tesla Motors has beat them to it. However, as the Chinese are so capable at doing, Coda will beat Tesla in price and thus make electric cars more affordable to the masses.
Jeff
June 19th, 2009
at 7:36pm
What do you mean Tesla has beat them? 24 minutes of total charge time for 300 miles. Tesla 45. I can deal with 100 miles then a short pit stop, as apposed to 300 miles then a 45 minute stop.
I have to say that CODA has the right idea. If the battery replacement is for a good cost we have a good car.
Now the issue is - when are we going to stop using fossil fuels to charge the cars. I am no tree hugger, but making an electric car doesn’t fix anything if its powered by the same thing in the end. Just 1 more step of energy loss in the transfer.
PAPO
June 19th, 2009
at 11:23pm
I don’t think we will have a truly good electric car until the Koenigsegg Quant comes out, the Tesla is ok but it has it’s problems for mow were going to have to live with cars like the Karma; electric with a petrol(gasoline) generator
Rick
June 20th, 2009
at 1:48am
GM killed their electric car years ago. If they had half a brain, they’d be working at bringing it back. That may restore some faith to people that they are serious about “getting down to business”.
Ron Schenone
June 20th, 2009
at 5:33am
Hi Rick,
GM is developing the Volt.
http://gm-volt.com/about/
As far as the Tesla is concerned, they have only delivered 500 cars thus far. At $100k per car for the roadster and $50k for the sedan, it is not a contender for most people in the real world.
But I must agree with Jeff. What use are electric cars going to be if we still have to use fossil fuels to charge the cars. One would hope that wind power would play a part in electricity development or we may have to resort to nuclear power to get away from fossils fuels.
Thanks for sharing all of your thoughts with us.
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June 24th, 2009
at 6:18am
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