Green Car Advisor
Miles
March 17, 2010
By Scott Doggett, Contributing Editor
In California, home to one in 10 Americans and some of the nation's worst air pollution, the cost of buying or leasing a zero-emissions electric vehicle just became up to $20,000 cheaper.
That's in the form of a tax rebate that's in addition to a tax credit of up to $7,500 that the federal government is offering prospective buyers of electric-drive vehicles.
The state rebates became available to Californians who purchased or leased new EVs in the Golden State beginning this past Monday. The rebates will continue until April 30, 2012, or until the $4.1 million appropriated by the state's Air Resources Board runs out, whichever comes first.
The list of eligible models: One Smith and two EVI commercial vans ($20,000 rebate); the Tesla Roadster, Honda FCX Clarity and Nissan Leaf ($5,000); five neighborhood electric vehicles from GEM and two from Miles EV ($1,000-$1,500); and two zero-emission motorcycles from Zero ($1,500).
The rebate announcement thrilled major electric-vehicle advocates, including Jay Friedland, legislative director of Plug In America.
"We applaud the California Air Resources Board for the leadership it is demonstrating with this program," he said. "The state is making a wise investment in our future."
California is broke. $4.1 million could buy a lot of textbooks in a state where some teachers have taken to buying school supplies because otherwise there wouldn't be enough. Is allocating the money to bring the cost of EVs down the wisest investment in the state's future? That's debatable.
Continue reading...
- Posted by
- Permalink | Comments (0)
- Scott Doggett March 17, 2010, 1:16 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Emissions, Fuel Economy, GEM, Miles, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives, Tesla, Zero
- Technorati Tags:
- California Air Resources Board
, GEM, Honda FCX Clarity, Miles EV, Nissan Leaf Pricing, Plug-in Electric Cars, Plug-in Vehicles, Rebate, Tax Credit, Telsa Roadster, Zero, Zero-Emissions Vehicle
June 3, 2009
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Miles Rubin has carved out a nice little business, Miles Electric Vehicles, marketing low-speed electric vehicles to commercial and government fleets and now wants to begin selling full-size, full service EVs to you and me.
But not as Miles EV.
As we reported last month, that name will be reserved for the 5-year-old low-speed electric work truck business.
The new business - Coda Automotive - was announced today at a press conference at Coda's Santa Monica headquarters. The name wasn't derived from the Led Zepplin album of the same name but comes from the musical notation for an independent passage that sums up or concludes what came before it.
The company, which plans to start selling a $45,000 (before a $7,500 federal tax credit), 5-seat, mid-sized battery-electric sedan in the last half of 2010, also showed off a prototype of the car (above), which is based on a sedan built by Hafei Motor Co., a smallish Chinese automaker.
Coda chief executive Kevin Czinger also announced that the company has formed a "global" joint venture with its Chinese battery supplier to develop, manufacture and market lithium-ion batteries for transportation and stationary power storage uses and has applied for a federal grant in partnership with a so-far unidentified U.S. battery development company to build an EV battery factory in this country.
Price Matters
Entering the battery business will enable Coda to leverage its core expertise in battery systems design and create revenue stream that can help the company lower the admittedly steep price of its first car, Czinger said in an interview with Green Car Advisor.
Part of the company's marketing message, to help overcome the price, is that a battery-EV has far fewer part than a conventional car or a hybrid-electric car. It needs no engine maintenance, no oil changes and relatively little routine maintenance. Coda figures that will cost the average owner $3 per 100 miles to operate the EV, versus $17 per 100 miles for a 20 mpg conventional car.
The annual savings help lower the total cost of owning an EV, Czinger said, and should help make the Coda more competitive with other EVs such as the model to be launched next year by Nissan Motor Co., and with extended-range plug-in hybrids such as General Motors Corp.'s similarly-priced Chevrolet Volt when they begin appearing in the market in 2011.
Tier 1 Team
Acknowledging that start-up automakers face a tough battle in pursuing consumer acceptance, Czinger said that Coda's marketing strategy will stress its electric sedan's safety and heavy use of components and systems supplied by top-tier companies such as Delphi Corp. (power electronics), Borg-Warner (the single-speed transaxle), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (heating and air conditioning) and Continental (electronic stability control system).
The Coda's 333-volt battery pack, now supplied by the Tianjin Lishen Battery Co., a manufacturer of lithium ion batteries used in laptop computers, cell phones and power tools, will come from the new Coda-Lishen Battery joint venture.
Continue reading...
- Posted by
- Permalink | Comments (0)
- John O'Dell June 3, 2009, 4:57 PM
- Categories:
- Batteries, Coda, Miles, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Coda Automotive
, Electric Cars, Miles Electric Vehicles, Miles EV
May 26, 2009
Miles Electric Vehicles plans to take the covers off its new highway-legal electric sedan on June 3, and will use to occasion to reveal the new brand name under which the five-seat vehicle will be sold.
We know the car is based on the Saibao sedan (below, left) by China's Hafai Auto Group, but aren't clear on how the styling has been modified. Miles' marketing director, Kara Saltness, says the rework was "moderate" for appearance and "extensive" for safety engineering.
One neat element of the Miles version that we do know of thanks to a teaser photo released by the company, is a "no gas" logo (right) on the recharging plug access door - what would be the fuel filler door if the car had a gas tank.
What we do know about the EV is that Miles plans to begin marketing the car under its new name in mid-2010, intends to price it at under $45,000 before any tax or other incentives and hopes to sell 3,000 in 2010 annd eventually ratchet up to 20,000 a year.
Miles has said it will use a lithium iron-phosphate battery pack from China's Lishen Battery, will travel up to 100 miles on a single charge, is to be outfitted for 220-volt charging and will use a single electric motor and a one-speed transaxle.
Sales will be restricted to California initially and will spread to other states as Miles develops a dealership and service network.
- Posted by
- Permalink | Comments (0)
- John O'Dell May 26, 2009, 12:04 PM
- Categories:
- Miles, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Miles Electric Vehicles
, Miles EV
May 6, 2009
If Miles Automotive brings its five-passenger, freeway legal electric sedan to market next year as planned, the EV won't carry the Miles brand name.
----------
Miles Automotive's electric sedan will be built off Saibao sedan from China.
----------
The Southern California-based importer and distributor of low-speed electric vehicles says that it would feel better about entering the consumer market clear of the low-speed EV image that it built over the years as a supplier of sub-35-mph neighborhood and work-truck electric vehicles to the commercial and government fleet business.
Miles has 20 prototype models of the electric sedan running in the U.S. and Europe as its tests them from durability and drivability, and plans to start selling in the U.S. -- California only at first -- in mid-2010, marketing director Kara Saltness told Green Car Advisor in a recent interview.
Continue reading...
- Posted by
- Permalink | Comments (1)
- John O'Dell May 6, 2009, 3:20 PM
- Categories:
- Miles, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric Vehicles
, Miles Electric Car, Miles Electric Sedan, Miles EV
April 9, 2009
Cheaper Batteries, Lots of Chargers, Government Incentives are Necessary Ingredients
By Danny King, Contributor
The jury's still out on whether battery-electric vehicles will be a luxury or relatively commonplace within the next six years, according to a recent report that finds a lot of uncertainty still exists regarding battery performance characteristics.
----------
Electric cars such as the proposed Tesla Model S could proliferate, but would only trickle into the market without infrastructure development and government support, report says.
----------
Annual global battery-electric vehicle sales will range from as few as 500,000 to as many as 3 million units by 2015, depending on factors such as how long the cars can run on a single charge and how quickly they recharge, high-tech consultant
Strategy Analytics
said in its report.
Battery-electric car manufacturers will build about 10,000 units this year, up from 4,000 in 2008, according to the report's author, Kevin Mak, industry analyst of Strategy Analytics' Automotive Electronics Service.
It will take cheaper battery costs that drive electric-car prices closer to their gas-powered counterparts, a comprehensive recharging infrastructure, cars with features such as batteries that may be swapped out, and hefty government incentives for battery-electric vehicle sales to hit that 3 million mark by 2015; without such advances, annual sales will be closer to 500,000 units, Mak said.
"More advances are needed to make recharging faster - battery swap is an alternative approach - and to make more accessible recharging infrastructures, to increase range through greater energy density in batteries, to enhance reliability, and to lower costs to make electric vehicles more affordable to consumers," Mak said.
One thing is certain, though. The number of electric vehicles will grow, even if very slowly.
Companies ranging from larger automakers like Nissan to relative start-ups like Tesla Motors are planning to start selling all-electric vehicles to the U.S. public within the next two years.
Nissan Motor Co. plans to start selling its EV to U.S. fleet customers late next year and has reached an agreement with Japanese electronics giant NEC that will allow production of enough lithium-ion batteries to supply as many as 200,000 hybrid vehicles and electric cars per year.
Meanwhile, Tesla, which last week unveiled the $57,400 (base-price) Model S sedan that it plans to start selling in late 2011, said it has received more than 500 advance orders for the car, which can be equipped with a variety of battery packs good for 160, 220 or 300 miles between charges.
Others with EVs on tap include Miles Electric Vehicles, which is planning to launch its own highway-legal sedan late next year; Mitsubishi Motors, which will start selling a battery-electric city car, the i-MIEV, later this year in Japan; and Subaru, which has said it will sell a limited production EV in Japan in 2010. Several Chinese auto makers also have announced plans for EVs of their own.
Strategy Analytics cited EV battery-charging network developer Better Place as a potential factor in advancing the product enough for mass adoption.
The Silicon Valley-based company is working with Nissan and its partner, Renault, to develop electric cars and a recharging infrastructure for Israel and Denmark, though the car makers may not adopt Better Place's strategy of designing electric cars with swappable battery packs.
- Posted by
- Permalink | Comments (0)
- John O'Dell April 9, 2009, 7:20 AM
- Categories:
- Miles, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault, Tesla
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric Vehicles
, EVs
March 24, 2009
Miles Electric Vehicles
, the Santa Monica-based low-speed EV company with plans to launch a highway-legal electric sedan next year, is moving into new corporate headquarters and showroom in anticipation of that event.
The former Saturn dealership on Wilshire Boulevard at 16h Street in Santa Monica is substantially larger than Miles' present office, a good thing as the company has grown from just 6 employees in 2005 to about 20 headquarters staff now and is still growing.
The new facility also will provide far more exposure for Miles and its vehicles than the company now gets in its digs in a low-traffic area near the Santa Monica Airport.
Miles hadn't been planning to disclose its plans for a while but ever-alert Edmunds.com copy editor Doug Lloyd saw the banner (placed earlier this week, we're told, by a company executive who hadn't been clued in on the "don't-say-anytning-yet" plan) and snapped a photo (above).
Dan Mosher, Miles' chief financial officer, said the company expects to make the move in April.
The Miles electric sedan (left, a prototype)
is slated to be launched in the last half of 2010.
Meantime, a company spokeswoman said, passers-by on Wilshire will probably be treated to exhibits of low-speed electric vehicles in the Miles showroom.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
- Posted by
- Permalink | Comments (1)
- John O'Dell March 24, 2009, 11:40 AM
- Categories:
- Miles, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- EVs
, Miles Electric Sedan, Miles Electric Vehicles
December 11, 2008
California-based Miles Electric Vehicles
, the low-speed EV manufacturer with plans to be among first to market with a highway-legal electric sedan, has named two EV industry heavyweights to its team.
----------
Prototype Miles EV sedan is being tested in California for 2010 retail launch.
----------
The company said that John R. Wallace, former director of environmental vehicles for Ford Motor Co., and Kenneth Baker, former electric vehicle division program manager and vice president of global research and development for General Motors Corp., will join Miles' advisory board.
Miles is testing several prototype models of its battery-electric sedan, designed to travel at least 100 miles on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack, with a top speed of 80 miles an hour. In addition, the company manufactures and sells several versions of a low-speed EV used largely in business and government fleets.
As part of its effort to increase in-house expertise in electric vehicle and vehicle charging infrastructure development, Miles last month appointed recently retired Edison International chairman and president John E. Bryson to its board of directors.
Continue reading...
- Posted by
- Permalink | Comments (0)
- John O'Dell December 11, 2008, 12:01 PM
- Categories:
- Miles, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- John R. Wallace
, Kenneth Baker, Miles Electric Vehicles, Miles EV
December 1, 2008
EV charger manufacturer Coulomb Technologies, which recently announced that it has orders for 40 of its networked charging stations to be installed along major traffic corridors in California, says it now has established distributorships that cover 28 states with plans to expand into all 50.
Coulomb, headquartered in Northern California, is displaying its wirelessly linked charging stations at the Electric Drive Transportation Assn.'s annual conference in Washington, D.C. this week.
The company's "Smartlet" stations supply current at a variety of voltages for battery-electric and pug-in hybrid vehicles. Station users' would use prepaid accounts that would be debited via a wireless transaction when they access one of the charging stations - unless the station owner has opted, as several have, to deliver the power at no charge.
Coulomb said it will market the stations exclusively through its regional distributors, who now cover the major states in all regions except Texas and the Midwest.
Richard Lowenthal, Coulomb's chief executive, has said that he wants to position the company to have a commercial recharging infrastructure in place when vehicles with rechargeable batteries beginning appearing in the marketplace.
In addition to independents such as Tesla Motors, Miles Electric Vehicles, GEM and Zap that already market electric vehicles, several major and independent automakers, including General Motors, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, BMW, Fisker Automotive and Aptera Motors have announced plans for plug-in hybrids or battery-electric cars that will begin to hit the market -- some for testing, others for retail sales or leasing -- by late next year.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
- Posted by
- Permalink | Comments (2)
- John O'Dell December 1, 2008, 1:55 PM
- Categories:
- BMW, Chrysler, Fisker, Ford, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Mercedes-Benz, Miles, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Coulomb Technologies
, Electric Vehicle Charger, EV Charger, Plug In Hybrid
September 29, 2008
AltCar Expo 2008 closed its doors Saturday evening, ending from what by all accounts was another successful effort to showcase alternative transporation or fuels technologies to mainstream consumers.
We brought you a couple of pre-event reports and now are taking advantage of the goods nature of one of our colleagues, Edmunds New Product Manager Dori Merifield, to bring us a wrap-up report from the eyes - and pen - of one of those interested consumers.
Dori is an member of Edmund's corporate Green Team, helping to make sure the company is an environmentally responsible corporate citizen, and is an active environmental advocate in her own right.
She spent much of Saturday at AltCar, listening to the various symposia, examining displays and vehicles and talking to expo-goers and exhibitors about the event and the products.
Here's her report:
Thousands of people visited AltCar Expo over the weekend, many hoping to find an efficient but viable alternative to their present cars and trucks.
The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was filled with vehicles large and small that ran on a variety of alternative fuels - electricity, natural gas, hydrogen, biodiesel and even compressed air.
AltCar visitor examines Hybrid Technologies' Mini Cooper EV conversion.
There were also lots of conversion companies on hand hoping to persuade people of the wisdom of converting existing cars to a plug-in electric vehicles.
At one symposium, UC Davis Professor Andy Frank - father of the plug-in - explained why using electric cars to help reduce our oil consumption is so important: "Oil production is going to peak this year or next - after that supply will decrease and the cost will only increase."
Peter Ward, of the California Energy Commission staff, said the bigger problem is that 38 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in California come from transportation (a lot of that is from buses, delivery trucks and other commercial vehicles) and that the state is the third largest consumer of gasoline in the world.
Frank believes the solution is to convert existing cars to alternative energy.
Most cars on the road aren't new, he said, "so if only 10 percent of new cars are hybrid or electric, we're only replacing 1% of all the cars on the road each year. We simply don't have 50 years to make this change."
Continue reading...
- Posted by
- Permalink | Comments (1)
- John O'Dell September 29, 2008, 1:49 PM
- Categories:
- Auto Shows, Fuel Cell, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, MINI, Miles, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric
September 15, 2008
Miles Electric Vehicles
said it has sold 18 of its low-speed EVs to a Montana resort -- the first resort customer for the Santa Monica-based electric vehicle maker.
The Resort at Paws Up intends to use the EVs for staff and guest transportation.
Its approximately $288,000 purchase included a dozen of Miles' ZX40 electric cars (right) and six of the company's off-road vehicles -- essentially the ZX40 with luggage racks, special tires and other modifications.
The luxury resort, located in the Blackfoot Valley about 30 miles north of Missoula advertises itself as ecologically friendly.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
- Posted by
- Permalink | Comments (0)
- John O'Dell September 15, 2008, 1:09 PM
- Categories:
- Miles, Plug-ins and Electric
- Technorati Tags:
- Electric Vehicles
, Miles EVs, Resort Buys EVs
