Coda Automotive (formerly Miles Automotive Group)

[DDB]

And if history is any guide... Phoenix goes down and now Miles... does not bode well for start-ups with ambitious goals of quality low-cost highway capable EVs.

 

[doug]

Greentech Media

Miles Electric Vehicles will show off its slightly delayed all-purpose electric car on June 3 in Santa Monica.
...

The company's car will cost around $45,000, go for 100 miles on a charge and start coming out in early 2010, marketing director Kara Saltness told us in late April. The car is based in part around a gas car already on sale in China. By leveraging the work done in China, Miles hopes to be able to keep the price somewhat low and squeeze through safety testing in less time than it might take a car completely built from scratch.
...

Miles also isn't going it alone. It will announce a strategic partner soon.

Strategic partner besides the Chinese supplier of the car body? Perhaps a Chinese battery manufacturer then.

 

[DDB]

Greentech Media

Strategic partner besides the Chinese supplier of the car body? Perhaps a Chinese battery manufacturer then.

My God does Miles have anything done? Sounds a lot like Phoenix...delay delay...bankruptcy...And $45K is not going to fly at all with the Ford Focus EV and Volt for selling less than $45K (as well as Mitsu and others).

 

[domenick]

There is to be a big announcement tomorrow.

 

[graham]

We assume to correspond to the big Kleiner-Perkins announcement about a partnership with a EV company?

 

[doug]

ehh... well see tomorrow. Can't say it's particularly exciting.

 

[domenick]

It seems they are going to market their sedan under a different brand; Coda. The first car will be known as Coda sedan. It has a Hafei chassis and they've been working with Porsche Engineering. Oh, ABG has a post ready to go.

 

[domenick]

Here's a capture from the video at their new website.

 

[flabby]

Miles EV launches Coda Automotive for full speed electric sedan

"$45,000 before incentives". That's about $10,000 less than the model S.

 

[vfx]

$45,000 before incentives". That's about $10,000 less than the model S.

And the Model S looks like a million bucks.

 

[doug]

Thanks for posting this, domenick.

It looks like a reasonable enough appliance vehicle. Assuming it meets safety standards and what not, I'll be happy to see it on the road. Any photos of the interior?

For the money, though, I'd probably rather have a Volt. Practically speaking, 100 miles wouldn't be of that much more use to me than 40 miles for day to day driving. But for longer trips, the Volt has much more functionality.

Also, who came up with the name Coda? I think that's an awful name for this kind of product/company. Shouldn't they have chosen a name that conveys a new beginning rather than the end? What was the reason for the name change?



.

 

[AnOutsider]

Man, that is one ugly car, though for what it can do in its price range, it's acceptable. Under 11 seconds 0-60 (for highway merging, that's pretty good) and up to 120 miles. Youtube video says it's loaded with extras too...

but man.. that design would be enough to keep me FAR FAR away

 

[doug]

Green Car Congress: Coda Automotive to Bring China-Built Electric Mid-size Sedan to California Market in 2010; New JV with Lishen for Automotive Li-ion Systems

Miles EV Launches The Anti-Tesla: Coda Automotive - Business Insider

Miles is also entering a joint venture with Chinese battery maker Tianjin Lishen Battery. Tianjian will own 60% of the company, Miles will own 40%.

So they gave up majority ownership to this Chinese battery manufacturer.

 

[johnr]

Very interesting ... if they can make good on it. Everybody's in a race to be first to market with an affordable practical EV, and that can only be a good thing!

 

[doug]

What the Electric Coda Sedan Says About the Future of EVs and China - earth2tech.com

...
Even with the large U.S.-based automakers struggling, companies like General Motors could end up helping out companies like Coda with that image problem of Chinese cars having safety issues. As the Associated Press noted recently, GM’s move to export more China-built cars to the U.S. market – more than 51,000 vehicles in 2014, up from the 17,335 vehicles planned for export in 2011 — could open doors to the global market for China’s domestic automakers, such as Chery and BYD Auto. And it could do the same for Coda.

But Coda is also being undercut by those Chinese automakers. BYD is aiming to launch a plug-in hybrid vehicle with a sticker price of just $16,000, just over a third of the cost of the all-electric Coda sedan — which at this point is slated to go for the same price as GM’s plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. So Coda hasn’t mapped out a sure route to success on the mass market yet, but it may be a sign of where the industry’s heading.

 

[doug]

Live coverage of the Coda EV including interior photos - AutoblogGreen

 

[AnOutsider]

These real pics make the car look a bit better IMO. That grille still needs work, and the LEDs still look last minute, but it's not as bad as originally thought.

Still an uninspired econobox on the outside tho

 

[graham]

The interior shots make it slightly better. It would be a great car for the low $20k range.

If we are given a world where this is at $40k and a Volt is $30k and a model S is $50k, I am not sure I see I see people choosing this. It is not as nice as the cheaper Volt, and it is not that much less expensive than an S.

 

[domenick]

It's definitely pricey but if it can get garner decent reviews (please send me one, thank you) and stay on schedule it might have a chance. I'd be interested in hearing Siry's point of view on this car.

 

[dpeilow]

You can. He talked about it on an EVcast, I think Doug posted which episode he was on in the EVcast thread.