Coda Automotive’s all-electric sedan, due late this year or in early 2011, is the underdog in the race for an affordable, mass-market pure electric car. As a new start-up company, Coda doesn’t have the financial and marketing resources that Nissan and General Motors are putting behind the LEAF and Volt. (Unlike Tesla or plug-in hybrid-maker Fisker Automotive, Coda hasn’t received big government loans.) So Coda is planning an innovative approach to sales and service—and a multinational production process. The vehicle’s body will be assembled in China at a leased plant. The partially built car will be shipped to California for final assembly. Battery packs will be built in the United States, probably in Ohio.
The all-electric Coda sedan, with a range of about 100 miles, is expected to sell for around $40,000—although pricing has not been announced. The Coda sedan has a five-passenger chassis with a fairly nondescript design—although it was created by Pininfarina, the famed Italian car design firm.
The company will have a store in Los Angeles County, California, plus seven other locations across the state where customers can go for test drives. Each model will be built to order, so new purchasers can expect their vehicles to be delivered within eight weeks after they’ve been ordered. Ordering is expected to start before the end of 2010. Coda will contract to have technicians trained to do warranty work at 75 Firestone retail locations.
Make: Coda
Model: Sedan
Web site: www.codaautomotive.com
No. of passengers: 5
Battery size: 37 kWh
Range: 100 miles
Max. speed: 80 mph
MSRP: Approx. $40,000
Availability: 2011
