Coda was an independent company that added an electric drivetrain into the Mitsubishi Mirage sedan. It sold a few hundred in one year and then disappeared. For almost 12 years, there was a Coda Sedan forum hosted at http://www.mycodasedan.com but as the cars got older there were fewer and fewer owners that cared to discuss or maintain their out-of-date and unsupported (because Coda went out of business) vehicles.
History
Coda sold its first battery powered all electric sedan in March. Now, Coda Automotive is looking to expand its US dealership network to about 30 next year. Coda will add dealers in locales from Oregon to Florida next year as the company hopes to capture as much as 15% of the non luxury electric vehicle market in the US.
Coda has delivered about 100 cars since March, and they say they have orders for about 1000 more vehicles. The Coda Sedan has an EPA rated range of 88 miles which is higher than the Nissan Leaf by 15 miles.
Coda has raised $320 million in private funding to move forward with its efforts to build what it says would be the world’s least expensive mass-produced EV.
Availability
The Coda Sedan electric vehicle first started development in 2009. Initially, Coda Sedan deliveries were to begin in December 2010. After customer deliveries were re-scheduled several times, the Coda Sedan officially began selling to retail customers in the United States in March 2012.
Initially, the Coda Sedan is only available in California. As production increases, Coda is hoping to expand availability to the rest of the United States.
Registrations for the Coda Sedan are currently open on their website, but Coda has said it will be some time before new reservations will receive their Coda Sedan electric vehicle. Coda hasn’t announced how many pre-orders/reservations they’ve received for the electric sedan.
The Coda Sedan is available with 2 different capacity battery packs.
Starting price on the Coda Sedan base model is US $37,250 before any federal tax credits and other state and local incentives that may be available in your area. The Coda Sedan base model comes with a 31kWh battery pack that is rated by the EPA to have an official range of 88 miles. Coda says the Coda Sedan base model could get up to 125 miles on a single charge if driven under favorable conditions.
Coda Automotive offers the Coda Sedan with an optional 35 kWh battery pack. Coda says the extra capacity will deliver another 25 miles of driving range. Price on the extended range Coda Sedan is US $39,900. Production of the extended range Coda Sedan is scheduled to begin by mid 2012.
If you are interested in the Coda Sedan, you can pay $99 to reserve one on the Coda Automotive Website.
2012 Recall
Coda Automotive is recalling 78 of its Sedan models for what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says may have been improper installation of the side curtain airbags in the electric vehicles.
NHTSA said the Coda Sedan’s side airbags may not deploy in an accident as they should and that the automaker will notify the Sedan owners of the issue. Coda Automotive dealers will be responsible for the airbag inspections.
NHTSA added that there are no known injuries stemming from the faulty airbags.
Coda Automotive sold the first production Sedan EV back in March of this year. They haven’t released any sales data to date, but this recall indicates that at least 78 Coda Sedan electric vehicles were sold – there may be more out there that weren’t affected by the faulty airbags.
View the official Coda Sedan recall on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/results.cfm?rcl_id=12V409000&searchtype=quicksearch&summary=true&refurl=rss
Fleet Sales
Coda Automotive recently announced it received it’s first fleet order. A division American Electric Power (AEP) in Ohio is the first fleet to order the Coda Electric Sedan. Coda Automotive CEO Bill Beasley clearly sees the future potentail with the new customer, saying “Not only does [AEP] provide electricity to millions of Americans, but their large fleet has many potential applications for electric vehicles, which could save their company money on rising fuel costs.” Coda Automotive sees the relationship as long lasting and is looking forward to helping AEP’s fleet become a leader in sustainability.
According to Coda Automotive, if a fleet adds just 1 Coda Electric Sedan they can save around $2,000 per year on fuel and maintenance costs.
AEP was impressed enough after sampling a Coda Sedan demonstrator last year that they chose to place an order. With the all-electric Coda Sedan having a range of 125 miles, it’s more suited to such fleet duties than other all-electric vehicles.
Coda Experience Center
Way back in April of 2011, Coda Automotive released images of it’s experience center. It’s new store was going to be located in Westfield Century City in LA California and Coda planned to launch it in July 2011. The store was going to have an electric vehicle bar with an interactive learning display, a technology display that featured displays of the Coda Sedan technology, a test drive counter where customers could sign up for drives, and a test drive center in the parking garage below where customers could actually test drive the Coda Sedan. The Coda Experience center was said to be largely about education in order to help customers understand the differences between electric vehicles and gas vehicles and determine if a Coda Sedan made sense for them.
In September of 2011, Coda Automotive opened it’s first experience center in LA California. Coda Automotive announced the opening, saying they wanted to “open dialogue between consumers, provide a stress free purchase experience and ultimately accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.”
Staying consistent with Coda Automotive’s brand image of being a green company, the Coda store features eco friendly building materials such as salvaged wood, energy efficient lighting, neutral concrete flooring and recycled stainless steel.
Located in the parking garage below the Coda Experience center, Coda’s test drive center offers customers an opportunity to take a Coda Sedan for a test drive. Drivers can also learn how to use an electric vehicle charger at one of the six parking spaces with dedicated EV chargers.
The Coda Sedan EV is a four door, five passenger all electric vehicle that delivers the utility of a modern sedan. The Coda Sedan electric vehicle has the largest trunk in its class and the flexibility of a 60/40 fold down rear seat.
Coda Sedan Pricing History
Back in September of 2010, Coda Automotive said the Coda electric Sedan would start at $44,900 US dollars. In 2010, CEO Kevin Czinger said “…there will be strong demand for what we think is the first real usable all-electric car that meets most peoples’ day-to-day driving needs.” Perhaps – if they had beat the Nissan Leaf to market. But at the original price, the Coda Electric Sedan would have been more than $8000 more than the Nissan Leaf.
Coda Automotive has since lowered the price on the Coda Electric Sedan to a more competitive $38,125 – this price includes an $895 destination charge and does not include any federal tax incentives or credits. After a $7500 federal tax credit, the Coda Electric Sedan would be just over $30,000.