Coda Automotive Promises Electric Sedan in California

LOS ANGELES, June 3, 2009; Bernie Woodall writing for Reuters reported that a newly formed private company called Coda Automotive on Wednesday announced it will sell a fully electric car with a range of about 100 miles in the California market by autumn 2010 for around $45,000.

The company expects to sell about 3,000 "Coda Sedan" vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2010 that will be manufactured in China by state-owned Harbin Hafei Automotive.

They are to have lithium-ion batteries made by Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co based in Tianjin, China.

Coda Automotive is an offshoot of another private company, Miles Electric Vehicles, which sells low-speed fleet vehicles. It officially began operation on Wednesday with a demonstration of a prototype Coda Sedan in Santa Monica, California, where the company is located.

Coda officials say they have conducted thorough tests on about 20 prototype vehicles and have accomplished engineering rigor that makes them confident they can back up their claims.

Automotive analysts, including Philip Gott of IHS Global Insight, on Wednesday were highly skeptical of a company they had not even heard of on Tuesday.

Gott said a key to any success by Coda will be passing U.S. safety testing. The cars will be made in China and so far cars made in China have done poorly in crash tests.

"Once they get out of the early-adopter stage -- the buyers who want to be green -- they will have to expand to offer affordable transportation. That is the real test," said Gott.

Even after a U.S. federal tax incentive brings the Coda's price down to about $37,500, said Gott, "it is priced in the range of a BMW."

It will be difficult, said Gott, for buyers to be confident of a new company's ability to stand behind their cars when big automakers with huge engineering budgets are also in the race.

Ford Motor Co, Chrysler LLC, Nissan Motor Co are among the major automakers who are planning fully electric cars.

General Motors Corp has announced it will make the plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt to market in late 2010 and will manufacture about 10,000 in its first year. The Volt will be a "series hybrid" that is fully electric until a gasoline engine kicks in to recharge the batteries while driving, enabling it to run across country much like a gasoline-powered car.

CODA CHARGES IN SIX HOURS

The zero-emissions Coda family sedan car will have a top speed of about 80 miles per hour (130 kilometers per hour) and will get a full charge from a 220-volt outlet in six hours and can charge enough for a 40-mile trip in two hours, Coda said. In a pinch, the car can be charged from a household 110-volt outlet, but it will take about five times as long as with a 220-volt system.

Coda estimates that it will cost less than $3 on average to drive the sedan 100 miles, compared with about $17 for a gasoline-powered car getting about 20 miles per gallon.

Coda wants to pre-sign buyers ahead of the fall 2010 sales launch. If there is enough demand, the company will be able to scale up to make 20,000 Coda Sedans in calendar 2011, said Kara Saltness, spokeswoman for Coda.

"The uncertainty of battery supply is an issue that plagues many electric vehicles manufacturers today," said Kevin Czinger, president and CEO of Coda Automotive, in a press statement. "This long-term agreement (with Lishen) has enabled us to design an integrated battery system with an existing world-class partner with mass manufacturing capacity."

More information on the car can be found at www.codaautomotive.com.

Editing for Reuters by Maureen Bavdek and Bernard Orr