Coda all-electric automobile

[Kolesar]

Hey look what I found! From Santa Monica, California

http://www.codaautomotive.com/all-electric-car/

PERFORMANCE
Vehicle Range 90-120 miles2
Top Speed 80 mph (Electronically Limited)
Charge Time 6 hours from 220V (30AMP)4
Occupancy 5 passengers
Limited Vehicle Warranty 3 years/36,000 miles
Limited Battery Warranty 8 years/100,000 miles

BATTERY SPECIFICATIONS
Battery Chemistry Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4)
Battery Configuration 728 cells (104s7p)
Battery Energy 33.8 kWh
Nominal Battery Voltage 333V

TECHNICAL SPECICATIONS
Motor Power 100 kW/134 hp
Motor Torque 300 Nm/221 lb-ft
...
Trunk Space 20 cubic ft
Passenger Space 82 cubic ft
Curb Weight 3,682 lbs

[spin]

1. Top speed is 80 mph (Electronically Limited) ?

That's a little slow for me.

[Kolesar]

3. We'll have frost tomorrow morning

Come take a "spin" in my neighborhood at 80 mph

[spin]

5. I grew up near Ashtabula, Ohio ...

so I am familiar with your weather. I learned how to drive in the winter. I would find an empty icy parking lot and practice putting the car into a slide and regaining control.

Wisely I moved to Florida in 1969. We do have frost here occasionally. Sometimes it snows. I adjust my speed accordingly.

[Kolesar]

6. that's what my brother said

He broke his neck. Now he's a quadriplegic.

[spin]

7. Cars are like guns ...

they require responsibility to use safely.

In Florida where I live, the average speed people travel at on the freeway is 75 mph (the speed limit is 70). I usually run 80 mph but in reality speedometers are often calibrated to read high, so my actual speed is probably 75. The cops normally are looking for people traveling much faster than that.

Speed is not the most important factor in avoiding accidents. Far more important is maintaining the proper distance between you and the car in front and also paying attention to driving rather than talking on cell phones etc.

[Kolesar]

8. 80 mph is anti social behavior

I know how to analyze risk and I know that you are risking others' lives.

I get 35 mpg/tankful. Bet you don't

[spin]

10. Definitely not...

but then I am driving a mid sized pickup truck, a 2005 Nissan Frontier.

But I'll make you a bet in return. I'll bet you that when your vehicle is 5 years old that you'll have more miles on it than I do. I have just over 18,000 miles. Note, I retired six months after I bought my pickup truck. Before then, I was driving a 50 mile round trip to and from work at least 5 days a week for 37 years.

I could also point out that since I got my driver's license in 1962 I have never caused an accident and have only received two speeding tickets. Three other fools have rear ended me while I was sitting still in traffic and only one of those accidents required a tow truck )for the vehicle that ran into me).

I'm not bragging, just stating facts. I am also well aware that the odds may catch up with me therefore I always practice defensive driving. I've also slowed down considerably over the years. In my youth I had a lead foot and I loved street drag racing.

I've always said, "You only talk to the survivors."

[Kolesar]

11. Most Florida seniors know they should slow down when their vision gets worse...

and reactions slow down.

There is also that "age related cognitive dysfunction" thing

[spin]

12. As I mentioned, I have slowed down...

and I try to keep my mind active by having fun with people like you.

[txlibdem]

14. Florida would be a great place to start the roll-out of PRT

PRT - Personal Rapid Transit - takes you from your front door to your destination non-stop. It's like a cross between the monorail at Disneyland and a taxi. Cool.

The latest technological innovations such as printed magnets would enable PRT to be much better but it is already faster, safer, and cheaper than having automobiles and trucks in your city.

Look into PRT and do the right thing for the 44,000 people who die in auto accidents each year (that statistic is ONLY the USA by the way). Get rid of streets and turn them into parks or community vegetable gardens (like the old Victory Gardens). What a beautiful city that would be!

Oh, I almost forgot the most important part. PRT is handicap accessible (designed to be so from the start) so there will be no discrimination as there is today against the handicapped such as myself. The PRT cars are automatically controlled - no driver to worry about.

PRT is cheaper per mile than building and maintaining city streets yet it has the capacity (number of vehicles per hour) of a 3-lane highway! The vehicles are cheaper as well because they are simply a medium cost laptop with a few other electronic gizmos and a chassis -- the track does all the pushing and pulling via Linear Induction Motors. It's the best, cheapest, safest, most economical, most convenient mode of transportation ever devised by man (except teleporting and we aren't there yet).

Hall Effect magnets make the magnetic fields inside the vehicles no higher than they are on a sidewalk or in your living room. The fields are highly directional and also cancel themselves out just inches away from the track (you'll never be bothered by them and they are safe for your electronic gadgets, medical devices such as pacemakers, etc.) and the new printed magnets make it even cheaper to customize the precise magnetic characteristics for the size of the vehicle. Lowest cost. Safest. We need PRT right now.

Florida would be the perfect test case for a widespread PRT system in a medium sized city. That would show the world that America has regained its rightful place in the world as a leader and not a follower, that America has that "Can Do" attitude once again.

[TheWraith]

2. And it costs $10,000 more than a Volt, $12,000 more than a Leaf.

Or it would, if you could actually buy one. But they haven't produced anything yet.

[bullimiami]

4. $37,400 after incentives?

[Kolesar]

9. I'll put this here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9542227

[tinrobot]

13. Good technology, but it sure is ugly