I drove the car and talked to the Coda sales representatives extensively during the San Diego auto show. The Coda headquarters are in Los Angeles, the body and many components are Chinese, and their assembly is done in Benicia, California, less than an hour from Tesla’s new manufacturing site. I suspect that Coda is under capitalized.
It’s an ideal California day for this test drive of the Kia Optima Hybrid. As the day warmed, we would be able to open the sunroof, even though it is January. The drive will combine city streets, freeway acceleration, hill climbing, and navigating curves over steep cliffs descending to the ocean. It will be interesting to compare this to my test drives of other midsized hybrids including the Toyota Camry Hybrid and Ford Fusion Hybrid.
I just drove two electric cars on the same route that included demanding freeway acceleration, cruising along a beautiful ocean highway, serious hill climbing, and maneuvering through street traffic.
Nissan LEAF is the first electric car to earn five stars from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. My wife and I have been driving our Nissan LEAF for over three months. This electric car feels safe to us on city streets and on freeways. The LEAF is easy to charge. It won’t let us drive anywhere if we forget to disconnect the charge point. When backing out of our shared condo parking, the mirrors and backup camera are helpful. The LEAF accelerates well on to freeways, even in the range-extending ECO mode that we almost always use.
By Tom Bartley (4/30/11) In 2012, Toyota will start selling an SUV with 100-mile electric range – the RAV4 EV. In 2015, Toyota will start … Read more
By Tom Bartley (3/24/11) My two weeks were up yesterday and I had to pass the car to the next Clean Fuels Coalition board member. … Read more
The Eubank family was interested in replacing one of their SUVs with a fuel-efficient car. A typical SUV in the United States produces about 12 tons of CO2 emissions per year; a fuel-efficient hybrid only one-third that amount. Safety and storage were major concerns in their decision. Without sacrificing safety or vehicle needs, the Eubanks now live in better harmony with their values about energy security and being environmentally friendly.
It’s easy to slide behind the steering wheel of this Tesla Roadster because the top’s removed for this January day. I don’t mind. It’s 70 degrees here in Palm Springs, California. A perfect day for a test drive. Handling S-curves is smooth and effortless even though this sports car has no power steering. I go over a speed bump at 20 mph. No scraping sounds. No damage. These shocks are worthy of a race track.
This Lincoln MKZ is delivering the most smooth and silent drive I’ve experienced. In stop-go LA traffic, I quietly move forward only using the two electric motors, with the gasoline engine off. When I accelerate around slow traffic the electric motors and gasoline engine blend power so smoothly that it would happen unnoticed unless you are doing a test drive. The Lincoln MKZ is the premium hybrid car with the best fuel economy on the road. No other luxury or premium car gets the Lincoln MKZ’s 41 highway, 36 city, and 39 mpg combined fuel efficiency.
Keo, at age 3 months, started his Nissan LEAF test ride with a yawn, gurgled his approval during the ride, then wisely left the car buying decision to his parents. Grace and Susan Stanat brought their son along for the test drive. They arrived with Keo, baby seat, stroller, and high-hopes for getting an electric car. Although three adults can squeeze into the back seat of the LEAF, two babies are another matter.