2012 NAIAS Detroit Auto Show: Part 3, Coda

Coda set up a booth at NAIAS, which was surprising to me.  See, Coda will only be for sale at first in California, and has an unknown timetable to sell in the rest of the country.  I asked one of the Coda reps why they were in Detroit, and they said simply to build awareness.

Coda, you have a lot of work to do. Your car does not look like it is worth $15,000, much less $40,000.


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Coda's biggest problem, I think, is that their car looks like an old Toyota from about 2001.

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Coda's second biggest problem is that this thing is put together about like a Chrysler from 2001, or worse. Look at the loose headliner fit. That's not me pulling on it, that's some guy who got into the front seat after I got into the back, and said, "hey, check this out!".

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The interior can charitably be called functional. Hard plastics, wide gaps, and cheap feel abound.

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The "high-tech" PRNDL knob. It feels about as cheesy as it looks.

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The powertrain cutaway was interesting. Here is where most of the $40,000 is: in the wide, flat battery pack slung under the body.

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The face of Coda. Notice the huge gap between the hood and the headlight/fascia. It screams "cheap".

I have no idea how Coda is going to make it.  With elegant and refined electric cars in the market such as the Leaf and Focus, as well as the half-gas Volt, Coda looks very weak.  They claim to have a 150 mile range, which would be world class.   But who will spend $40,000 on an ugly car, made mostly in China, with an unproven record and a minuscule dealer network?

2012 NAIAS Detroit Auto Show: Part 2, Tesla

First up, we visit Tesla.  Tesla's display was quite busy.  There was one car, the Model S, and some cut-away parts to look at.


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Model S front suspension. Notice the extruded aluminum tubes and cast aluminum suspension arms. This is not a cheap high volume chassis.

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Rear suspension and powertrain.

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Charging port nicely hidden in rear tail lamp assembly.

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Interior with huge LCD and touch screens. I wonder if they are protected against daylight glare?

Sadly, the car was too mobbed at the moment for me to get a clear picture of it. Here is someone elses.
Tesla Model S

2012 NAIAS Detroit Auto Show, Part 1

I went to the auto show.  I took a lot of photos. It has taken me a while to get to them.    Better late than never?


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One of the more interesting design models at the Michelin design challenge display.


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Michelin sponsored city of the future display, with 3 concept cars that weren't drawing much attention.

Coming soon, much much more...


2012 Detroit NAIAS: Shelby GT500 Dyno Pull

Ford had some cojones. Not content to just show off the outrageously powerful 650HP GT500, they actually set up a dyno, strapped one down, and did 140mph pulls ever hour. It was LOUD. I am amazed the fire marshal allowed it.

 

California ZEV Mandate Rolls On as ACC

Continuing with its previous nonsensical policy, California's ARB (Air Resource Board) has published new regulations which require automakers to sell a certain percentage of vehicles which are BEV, PHEV, hydrogen, or otherwise not just gasoline powered.

This is bad pollicy because the mandate tells the producers what they must sell, without forcing anyone to actually buy the cars.

This puts automakers in a difficult spot.  If they can't make the vehicles attractive enough for consumers to buy, they have to dump them into the marketplace somehow.  They would have to sell these ZEVs at a substantial loss, and make up for the financial damage by raising prices on traditional vehicles.  The result is the same as a tax on gasoline vehicles, but done through a back-door which causes consumers to be angry with the automakers and not the regulators.

A better policy for California would be to encourage consumers to buy ZEVs, through more direct measures.   For example, fuel taxes could be used to large fund tax rebates, so that gasoline consumers would subsidize ZEV purchases.  Currently, CA offers a $2,500 rebate for a BEV vehicle, but this does not come close to offsetting the cost.  

The previous ZEV mandate was watered down significantly because it wasn't a feasible goal.  I don't expect this one to be feasible either, based on people's sensitivity to higher up front purchase costs.

SOLD - ST185 Celica - 2nd Gen Half Cut

SOLD To Local Customer
This Half Cut Model Celica ST185 is a 2nd Gen Model - Engine 3S-GTE - Manual - 4WD , Selling Together With All The Parts Shown In The Photos

Selling As Is Where Is Basis

To View Engine Revving, Click Video Below :-



General View Of The Half Cut / Bumper In Good Condition

General View Of The Speedometer

Mileage Reading :- 181270 Kilometers Or 112,635 Miles

Engine Tag Information

Chassis Number

Front View Of The Engine Bay

Side View Of The Engine Bay

Side View Of The Engine Bay

Inner Part Of The Engine

Front View Of The Turbo

Side View Of The Turbo

General View Of The Undercarriage

General View Of The Undercarriage

General View Of The Undercarriage

Bonnet - Good Condition

Driver Side - Headlamp / Side Lamp And Bumper Signal Lamp - Good Condition

Driver Side - Aftermarket Absorber - Oil Leak

Driver Side

Driver Side Fender - Good Condition

Passenger Side - Head Lamp / Side Lamp And Bumper Signal Lamp - Good Condition / Side Fender Damaged

Passenger Side Fender - Closed View Of The Damaged Area

Passenger Side Fender - Closed View Of The Damaged Area

Passenger Side - Aftermarket Absorber - Oil Leak

Passenger Side

Passenger Side Fender - Red Circle Indicate Damaged Area

Rear Absorbers

Brand Of The Aftermarket Absorbers

Consol Box / Long Shaft And One Set Tail Lamp

Petrol Tank With Fuel Pump Attached

Rear Axle With Complete Frame

General View Of The Half Cut

HTML5 Hackathon

Learn how to put together HTML5 apps at the HTML5 Hackathon. You'll get hands-on experience with WebWorks, which is the BlackBerry tool for building applications with HTML5.

That'll get you primed for building HTML5 apps for the QNX CAR 2 application platform!

Hybrids Losing To Efficient IC Engines

In today's Detroit News is a well written piece about the struggles of hybrids in the marketplace.  Bottom line: most people would rather pay a lot less money for somewhat less efficiency.  

A fascinating insight comes from Mike Jackson, CEO of AutoNation, the largest multi-brand car retailer.

Mike Jackson, chief executive of the retail chain AutoNation Inc., said that 75 percent of customers come into his showrooms and want to talk about hybrids. Only about 2.5 percent of AutoNation sales are hybrids.
"What happens from the 75 percent consideration to the 2.5 percent commitment?" Jackson said.
"They look at the price premium for the technology, which is already subsidized and discounted, and say, 'The payback period is too long; not for me.'"

At the point of purchase decision, people notice that the payback time for the hybrid-electric powertrain is on the order of 5 or more years, and the practicality of the vehicle is reduced because of the packaging of the batteries.  They also notice that one of the more efficient non-hybrid vehicles, while not as efficient as a hybrid, is pushing 40mpg on the highway.  

As a result, hybrid sales are not growing very quickly, even though gasoline prices in the U.S. remain stubbornly near $3.50/gal.    

Hybrid sales slowed last year to 2.2 percent of U.S. sales, from 2.4 percent in 2010, according to researcher LMC Automotive.

Without widespread adoption, there is less hope for economies of scale in battery production.

For hybrids to really compete, the cost of batteries, and their energy density, must improve dramatically, or the price of fuel must go so high that the payback time will approach a few years--like $5/gal.  


QNX concept car makes detour at TI headquarters

Guest post by Kroy Zeviar, QNX strategic alliances

My colleague Mark Rigley must feel (justifiably) proud these days. He is, after all, head of the team that created the new QNX concept car, which took home a Best of Show award from 2012 CES.

You'd think that Mark and I would be anxious to get home after a hectic, albeit gratifying week at CES. And indeed, we were. But we made a slight detour and stopped over in Dallas to show off the car to our friends at Texas Instruments.

Everyone loved it. The car, based on a Porsche 911, takes advantage of TI's OMAP4 and wireless connectivity solutions, so folks were naturally excited to see what their technology had helped enable.

Better yet, TI brought in a pro photographer to take these cool pix...



Upwards of 400 folks came out to see the car


Checking out the new head unit and digital cluster


Mark, in the passenger seat, giving one of many demos


Best of CES 2012 winner. Woo-hoo!


This shot is just cool.


And speaking of cool, a huge shoutout to the TI OMAP and
wireless solutions teams for all their great support!