Coda Automotive
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

CODA Automotive Inc. was a privately held American company headquartered in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California. The company designed and assembled lithium-iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery systems for automotive and power storage utility applications, and
electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quie ...
s. Miles Automotive partnered with
Hafei Hafei, officially Hafei Motor Co., Ltd. (), is a Chinese automaker currently operating as a subsidiary of Changan Ford, and manufacturing passenger vehicles. It previously independently manufactured sedans, MPVs, mini vehicles, small trucks, an ...
and Qingyuan Electric Vehicle to establish Coda Automotive as an affiliate company. The name CODA comes from the
musical term A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...
for the concluding passage of a piece of music. CODA Automotive has said that it chose the name because its electric vehicle technology represents an end for combustion engine vehicles, and the start of the electric vehicle era. In June 2009, CODA announced the creation and funding of LIO Energy Systems, a global joint-venture with Lishen Power Battery. LIO Energy Systems was formed with the purpose of designing, manufacturing, and selling battery systems for electric vehicles and utility applications. LIO Energy Systems will supply battery systems to CODA Automotive for use in the all-electric CODA, to other automotive OEMs globally, and to renewable energy producers, utilities and other power storage customers. LIO Energy Systems was later renamed CODA Energy. CODA's sole vehicle offering was the Coda all-electric sedan, a four-door, five passenger
electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quie ...
powered by a battery pack that delivered a
United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
rated range of , the longest among its class, although considerably less than the Tesla Roadster and
Tesla Model S The Tesla Model S is a Battery electric vehicle, battery-powered liftback car serving as the flagship model of Tesla, Inc. The Model S features a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout, although earlier versions of the Model S featured a rear-moto ...
. The electric car was released in March 2012, and initially was available only in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. After low initial sales of the Coda Car, Coda Automotive terminated 15% of its workforce, and entered a period of financial difficulty. By May 2013, Coda was seeking bankruptcy protection. By May 2016,
Exergonix, Inc. Exergonix Inc, is an energy storage company based in Kansas City, Missouri. It was founded in 2010, after spinning out of Kokam America, Inc., which was acquired by Dow Chemical Company in 2009. Exergonix develops grid energy storage to supply p ...
acquired all assets of the company.


Corporate strategy and partners

CODA Automotive's goal is to accelerate the adoption of
electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
s, and
renewable energy technology Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
globally. To this end, CODA has focused on improving performance, safety, reducing cost, and commercializing production of battery systems built for automotive applications, which it views as the "chief enabling technology" for all-electric cars. To reduce the cost of building its vehicles, CODA controls all core design, and engineering work internally while partnering with established automotive manufacturers, and suppliers around the world. CODA's supply chain partners include
BorgWarner BorgWarner Inc. is an American automotive supplier headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The company maintains production facilities and technical systems at 93 sites (as of June 6, 2022) in 22 countries worldwide and has around 49,000 emplo ...
, UQM Technologies, EnergyCS,
Continental Automotive Systems Continental Automotive Systems (CAS), founded in 1906 by Alfred Teves, a division of the German Continental AG, was a brake and electronics supplier to the automotive industry, supplying systems, components, electronics, lithium-ion batteries and ...
, Porsche Design Studios,
Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...
, Celgard, Novolyte Technologies, OMITEC,
Lear Lear or Leir may refer to: Acronyms * Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios, a Mexican association of revolutionary artists and writers * Low Energy Ion Ring, an ion pre-accelerator of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN ** Low Energy Antipr ...
,
Hella ''Hella'' is an American slang term that originated in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is used as an intensifying adverb such as in "hella bad" or "hella good" and was eventually added to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' in 2002. It is possibl ...
,
Hafei Hafei, officially Hafei Motor Co., Ltd. (), is a Chinese automaker currently operating as a subsidiary of Changan Ford, and manufacturing passenger vehicles. It previously independently manufactured sedans, MPVs, mini vehicles, small trucks, an ...
, and Lishen. In total, CODA has more than thirty suppliers, and partners on four continents. In March 2012, Chinese car maker
Great Wall Motors Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. (GWM) is a Chinese privately owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Baoding, Hebei. Founded in 1984, it is currently the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 1.281 million sales in 2021. The co ...
formed a joint venture with Coda.


Products


Coda all-electric car

CODA's first car is an all-electric four-door, five passenger
battery electric vehicle A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, wi ...
(BEV), the CODA sedan. The car is powered by a 31
kWh A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bil ...
lithium ion iron phosphate (LiFePO4)
battery pack A battery pack is a set of any number of (preferably) identical batteries or individual battery cells. They may be configured in a series, parallel or a mixture of both to deliver the desired voltage, capacity, or power density. The term battery ...
that is substantially larger than that of other vehicles in its class. According to the
US Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
(EPA), the Coda's 31
kWh A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bil ...
lithium ion iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery system delivers a
range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...
of , the longest among its class. EPA's rated the Coda's combined fuel economy at 73
miles per gallon gasoline equivalent Miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGe or MPGge) is a measure of the average distance traveled per unit of energy consumed. MPGe is used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compare energy consumption of alternative ...
(). The car is backed by a 3-year, 36,000 mile limited warranty and the battery system is backed by a 10-year, 100,000 mile limited warranty. CODA announced that net price will be before any electric vehicle federal tax credit, and other state and local incentives that are available in the U.S. Initial deliveries of the vehicle were planned for December 2010, but were pushed back to the second half of 2011 as CODA decided to have more time available to ensure the quality of the car, and later were again rescheduled for late 2011. The latest market launch was slated for February 2012, but the first deliveries to retail customers in the United States took place in March 2012. Initially the electric car is available only in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.


Battery production and distribution joint-venture

CODA has a global joint-venture with Lishen Power Battery, a global battery cell supplier to
Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
,
Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...
, and
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
, for the design, manufacture, and sale of battery systems called LIO Energy Systems. The name was selected because “LIO” is the reverse spelling of “oil.” Together, CODA and Lishen developed a lithium iron phosphate battery cell for transportation, and utility applications, which includes, renewable energy (wind and solar power) storage. LIO Energy Systems currently operates a manufacturing facility in
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
and plans to build a U.S. facility in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
. Initially, the CODA will be the primary recipient of the battery systems produced by LIO. LIO's production capacity will total 1.4 billion amp hours in Tianjin, China at full scale. With the completion of the Ohio plant, total capacity will reach two billion Ah (6.3 million kWh) of energy storage. In May 2010,
U.S. Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the interim president of Bellevue College, the largest of the institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system. Locke serv ...
visited the LIO Energy Systems facility in
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
as part of the Obama administration's first cabinet-level trade mission to China. Commenting on the visit, Locke said, "International green technology partnerships can produce rapid job growth back home and deliver energy solutions abroad, and CODA's venture proves it."


Financial history and investors

Kevin Czinger and Miles Rubin founded Coda in 2009. Early funding raised . On January 6, 2011, Coda announced the first close of a Series D investment round, bringing the company's “total invested capital” to more than . Lio Energy Systems, CODA's joint venture with Lishen, is funded by a equity investment by the partners, and as such, entered into “cooperation agreements” for “up to of long-term credit.”. Notable investors include, equity firms,
Harbinger Capital Partners Harbinger Capital Partners is a private hedge fund based in New York City, New York, founded by Philip Falcone. Harbinger is a highly diversified multi-strategy hedge fund. Notable investments have included sub-prime mortgages in the United Sta ...
,
Piper Jaffray Piper Sandler Companies is an American independent investment bank and financial services company, focused on mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, public offerings, public finance, institutional brokerage, investment management an ...
,
Riverstone Holdings Riverstone Holdings is a multinational private equity firm based in New York City focused on leveraged buyout, growth capital, and credit investments in the energy industry and electrical power industry sectors. The firm focuses on oil and gas e ...
, and personal investors, Henry "Hank" Paulson,
John Bryson John Edgar Bryson (born July 24, 1943) is the former United States Secretary of Commerce, the 37th person to hold the post since its establishment in 1913. Prior to this, he served as the chairman, chief executive officer and president of Edison ...
,
Klaus Tschira Klaus Tschira (7 December 1940 – 31 March 2015) was a German billionaire entrepreneur and the co-founder of the German software company SAP AG. Life After gaining his Diplom in physics and working at IBM, Tschira co-founded the German sof ...
,
Les Wexner Leslie Herbert Wexner (born September 8, 1937) is an American billionaire businessman, the founder and chairman emeritus of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly Limited Brands). Wexner grew a business empire after starting The Limited, a clothing re ...
,
Mack McLarty Thomas Franklin "Mack" McLarty, III (born June 14, 1946) is an American business and political leader who served as President Bill Clinton's first White House Chief of Staff from 1993 to June 1994, and subsequently as Counselor to the Presiden ...
,
Miles Rubin The "Malibu Mafia" was an informal group of wealthy American Jewish men who donated money to Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal and Progressivism in the United States, progressive causes and politicians during 1960s–1990s. Associated ...
, Steven “Mac” Heller, and
Tom Steyer Thomas Fahr Steyer (born June 27, 1957) is an American climate investor, businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, and liberal activist. Steyer is the co-founder and co-chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, founder and f ...
.


Bankruptcy and legal issues

After selling approximately 100 Coda Cars in California, Coda filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
on May 1, 2013. Coda Holdings stated that it expects to emerge from the bankruptcy process to focus solely on its subsidiary Coda Energy, and would abandon car manufacturing which is capital intensive. Shortly after the bankruptcy announcement, former employee Tony Bulchak filed a class-action lawsuit against the automaker, alleging that Coda laid off 125 workers on December 14, 2012, without giving them a 60-day notice.


Awards

Lung disease advocacy group Breathe California named CODA a Clean Air Award winner in the technology development category on April 19, 2010. Silicon Valley networking organization AlwaysOn selected CODA as one of the top privately held companies focused on green technology in its GoingGreen 100 list for 2010.


References


External links


CODA Automotive

CODA Energy
{{Automotive industry in the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2009 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2016 Car manufacturers of the United States Battery electric vehicle manufacturers Plug-in hybrid vehicle manufacturers Sports car manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Los Angeles Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United States Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2013 Motor vehicle manufacturers based in California 2009 establishments in California 2016 disestablishments in California