CODA Automotive definitely gets it

coda-windmills1Just spent a little time surfing around CODA Automotive’s web site collecting information for a short overview piece we’ll be doing on the CODA EV Sedan for SolarChargedDriving.Com.

editors-blog-entry3I have to say, CODA Automotive definitely gets it. By this, I mean CODA clearly understands that the best, most effective way to market EVs is to link them directly to renewable energy.

OK, marketing EVs by connecting them to renewable energy isn’t exactly an original idea. Green sells. And “everyone” knows this, including car makers.

But CODA seems to get it more than others.

Either that, or I’m biased toward CODA’s overtly political approach, which includes posting links with names like “Flip gas prices the bird.” The CODA site also has an “Impact calculator” which allows prospective buyers to compare the impact of driving a CODA vs. a gas-powered vehicle.

coda-windmills2But the feature that figures most prominently – at least graphically speaking – on CODA’s web site is the image of a wind turbine.

Wind energy is clean energy, and if some, most – or better yet – all of the electricity you use to power your CODA is wind-generated, well, then you are driving not only a ZEV (Zero Emissions Vehicle) but a ZAPV (Zero Air Pollution Vehicle).

That’s an extremely exciting prospect for millions of greenies, in the U.S. and around the world.

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It’s enough to get more than a few of us – who might otherwise build the EV = coal smokestacks image in our head – excited about electric cars. And not just a little excited, but really, really, excited.

CODA gets this – and the company seems more willing than some others, Nissan, for instance, to really put it out there, politically speaking.

Yes, the LEAF web site immediately broadcasts the car’s ZERO emissions status. Yes, it’s surely not coincidence that the color of the LEAF you immediately see is teal green. And the quote that flashes on screen when you first enter the LEAF site – ‘Nissan LEAF. 100% Electric. Zero Emissions. Any Questions?’ – is a clear appeal to the LEAF’s green-ness.

But there are no pictures of wind turbines on the LEAF site (or solar panels). And there are no explicit political appeals such as CODA’s message about how much carbon burning a gallon of gas emits (19.4 pounds, for those who are wondering).

OK, so CODA does appear to be trying to cover both the Left political base – with appeals to renewable energy – and the Right – with appeals to national fuel independence. After all, (car) companies can’t offend prospective buyers’ political sensibilities, can they?

But, as CODA clearly understands, playing it too safe politically isn’t new, isn’t fresh.

coda-impact-calculator

In fact, it’s kind of boring. And, in an age in which we’re all inundated by advertising – with most of us seeing literally hundreds, if not thousands, of ads per day — being bolder, and fresher, might be the way to go.

It’s certainly the way to go with people like me.

I like CODA’s “talk”. I feel like they’re speaking to me.

Moreover, the folks at CODA are speaking in terms, frankly, all EV-makers should be speaking in, meaning they’re speaking in terms of the revolutionary electric car-renewable energy synergy.

coda-fossil-foolsOf course, this might offend the Big Boys – meaning Big Oil and Big Coal. And that’s probably why a small start-up like CODA, which has a great image on its pages of a CODA parked in front of a gas station called “Fossi Fools”, is out in front on directly linking EVs to renewables and the bigger guys like Nissan seem to be behind – at least on their web sites.

There is still something missing on the CODA site, though – pictures of solar panels.

How about a few of those too, to complement your images of wind turbines, CODA?

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