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Start-Up Coda Automotive Plans First Electric Sedan for 2010

June 6, 2009

 

Wired reports, “The first electric sedan you’re likely to see in showrooms could come from a company you’ve never heard of and cost more than you’re willing to pay.” Coda Automotive plans to begin selling its compact sedan to fleets early next year, and to retail customers by the third quarter of 2010. “The four-door, five-passenger” Coda “features pedestrian styling, a range of 90 to 120 miles and a whopping $45,000 price tag. It will be available only in California to start, but the company plans to roll it out nationally by 2012.”

The company, which had developed the car under the name Miles EV, will use an existing Chinese small car as the base for its new sedan. Autoblog explains, “Coda sedan will be assembled in China by Hafei under the direction of staff from Coda. The new car is based on an existing Hafei chassis that has been heavily re-engineered by Porsche Engineering. The car is powered by a UQM electric motor driving the front wheels with energy storage via lithium iron phosphate battery pack.” The company believes the car will pass U.S. crash tests.

Motor Trend has been behind the wheel. They report that its “sub-11 second 0 to 60 mph time isn’t much to write home about,” but “the Coda feels quicker than the numbers indicate.” What “will hold the Coda back,” they write, is “the quality. While the interior materials are soft to the touch and appear to be of decent quality, the build quality leaves much to be desired.” To that point, they note, “On the outside, the panel gaps around the new hood were large and uneven.”

For $45,000, it’s a lot to ask buyers to accept.

Posted: Jun. 04, 2009 10:06 a.m. from US News.

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