I sat in one at the Detroit Auto Show a couple months ago. The thing is what you'd expect from a Chinese B segment sedan. Its interior is incredibly cheap and the steering wheel feels like it'd snap off if you looked at it wrong. Its exterior is, despite their efforts at updating the grille and adding DRL's, visually about ten years behind anything else on the road.
Regardless of power sources or economy I don't see many people buying this based on looks and interior quality alone. It could get 200mpge or run on grey water and I still might not consider buying it.
Then again I haven't driven one. Has anyone else experienced this car in person?
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I sat in one at the Detroit Auto Show a couple months ago. The thing is what you'd expect from a Chinese B segment sedan. Its interior is incredibly cheap and the steering wheel feels like it'd snap off if you looked at it wrong. Its exterior is, despite their efforts at updating the grille and adding DRL's, visually about ten years behind anything else on the road.
Regardless of power sources or economy I don't see many people buying this based on looks and interior quality alone. It could get 200mpge or run on grey water and I still might not consider buying it.
Then again I haven't driven one. Has anyone else experienced this car in person?
I've seen it live at the Santa Monica alternative car show, but I never sat inside it. It's definitely a boring little car, *by* *design*. The idea was to make the car appear as conventional as possible. The Coda body must already exist as a regular gasser, so that lowers the R&D and UMC.
It may be that they didn't choose the chassis, the chassis may have chosen them by being low cost + able to support the battery weight.
I would like to know the price of the gasser version in China in relation to other Chinese cars. That would give me an idea as to what the chassis is costing them.
The Coda Sedan has been selling in tiny numbers which is good, as many thought the car would never make it to market. The all-electric Coda sedan is based on a Chinese produced car called a “Chang’an E30″, but with no official crash test results available yet, the car is an unknown quantity safety wise.
So what about it’s identical Chinese twin, the Chang’an E30? How safe is that car in Chinese crash tests? Well, not bad actually, and Chinese crash tests are very similar to European and American crash tests – they’re just done a little slower.
Now, the E in E30 stands for electric, so maybe it is a ground-up electric.
More googling ... Ok I *think* this is the gasser :
ALSVIN is mainly designed by Mr. Luxi Arrow, the internationally leading designer and chief European designer of Changan. It perfectly combines the internationally stylish vehicle philosophy and orient aesthetics. "YUEXIANG" has 6 spotlights including "dazzlingly dynamic appearance", "cozy driving", "economical and fuel saving", "safety and free from worries", "flexible space" and "caring service". Its innovative and bold design style and outstanding equipments will lead China's market of cars into a new era.
Dazzlingly Dynamic Appearance, Display Stylish Sport Genes
The appearance of ALSVIN has being modern, classic and dynamic as its key designing elements. 4360mm long car body and 2515mm wheel base ensures ALSVIN has the longest car body and broader interior space among the vehicles of the same-class. Its appearance is dazzlingly dynamic and smooth. The curve transmits naturally from the headstock to the cab. The design of tail hidden empennage is especially outstanding, which adds lively and smart sense while effectively reduce the formation of trailing vortex so as to reduce the driving resistance.
The discussion I heard before was that it was a low-end Chinese production car, with leather seats and flashy electronics to distract from the sub-econobox material quality. The description above seems to confirm that.
The floorpan must be a from-scratch design to support the under-seat and in-spine battery layout (compare to the spine-only 'T' battery layout in the Volt), but the body appears very similar to the gas version. I wonder about the interior volume, especially headroom.
The floorpan must be a from-scratch design to support the under-seat and in-spine battery layout (compare to the spine-only 'T' battery layout in the Volt), but the body appears very similar to the gas version. I wonder about the interior volume, especially headroom.
Green Car Reports lists the 2012 Coda Electric Vehicle as a genuine EV intended for the mass market. Kinda pricey, next to the Mitsubishi. Anyone have any experience with it, or knowledge of it? Is it selling?
[Thanks to Metro for posting the Green Car Reports article on "compliance cars"]
james
[EDIT: fixed broken link.]
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See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
Last edited by California98Civic; 06-08-2012 at 02:12 AM..
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