A new carmaker Wednesday announced plans to sell a small all-electric sedan in California by 3Q10.
Coda Automotive said the vehicle–called the Coda–will be manufactured in China by state-owned Harbin Hafei Automotive and will have a range of 100 miles.
Coda Automotive is a spin-off of Miles Electric Vehicles, which sells low-speed electric fleet vehicles.
Coda Automotive said the four-door, five-passenger sedan will be available for $45,0000–before a $7,500 Federal tax credit and additional state incentives.
The vehicle’s onboard charger plugs into any 110 or 220V standard outlet and completes a full charge in less than six hours at a 220V service. Charging the battery for a 40-mile commute can be completed in two hours, the company said.
The vehicle will be powered by lithium-ion batteries supplied by Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co., Ltd., (Lishen).
Additionally, Coda Automotive announced a joint venture with Lishen to
design, manufacture and sell transportation and utility battery systems.
The company said plans have been made to establish manyfacturing
capacity in the U.S. in partnership with a U.S. battery company.
"The uncertainty of battery supply is an issue that plagues many electric vehicle manufacturers today," Kevin Czinger, President and CEO of Coda Automotive said. "This long-term agreement has enabled us to design an integrated battery system with an existing world-class partner with mass manufacturing capacity. That enables us to rapidly industrialize Coda’s power system for commercial volume production and to scale the business. Eventually, we expect to manufacture batteries in the U.S."
The company estimates that it will cost less than $3, on average, to drive 100 miles. A comparable gas-powered sedan that gets 20 mpg costs about $17 per 100 miles.
Coda said the vehicle will fully-equipped with factory-standard navigation system, a "green screen" that monitors driving efficiency, a Bluetooth system with an embedded microphone, AM/FM/XM radio with Sirius satellite capability, iPod dock and MP3/USB connectivity. The vehicle will be backed by a three-year/36,000 mile warranty.
Coda Automotive employs a direct distribution model, and will sell the vehicle only in the state of California initially. Coda said it will perform the vehicle’s maintenance and service through an outsourced network comprised of brand name car service partners.
In Related News…
Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE: TM) said on Wednesday it plans to lease 500 plug-in hybrid versions of the Prius by the end of this year for government and corporate use.
200 will be leased in Japan and 150 each in the United States and Europe.
The vehicles will include Toyota’s first use of lithium-ion batteries.
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