We’re not sure how other American electric upstarts like Detroit Electric, which will make use of EV components developed by Chinese automaker Geely, will survive following Coda’s meltdown. It tried dressing up the Saibao’s dated styling with a custom front fascia and LED running lamps, yet there was no cruise control or auto up-and-down power windows.
#CODA MOTORS DRIVERS#
(And, thanks to an NHTSA two-star frontal crash test rating, drivers of the Coda sedan likely didn’t fare much better than the company.)įor $38,145, Coda incorporated all the charm of a late-’90s Daewoo Nubira for the price of a well-equipped Audi A4. There are a number of contributing factors to the brand’s demise-including an application for a $334 million federal loan that was withdrawn after a decision failed to materialize after two years in the Department of Energy’s hands-but none more apparent than Coda’s decision to use a cheap Chinese sedan, the Hafei Saibao, which uses a Mitsubishi architecture, as its foundation. Just 100 cars were sold from Coda’s four California dealers since production started in March 2012. At a minimum, typical savings is 3W/hr x 24 hours x 365 days 26.28kWh/yr. The CGNM-3552 uses 21W typical, whereas the CODA-4582 uses 18W typical, and only 5W in power save mode (this could be bridge mode, but Im not sure). Its technology was impressive at a time when the EV market was still in the infancy of its formative years: The company’s 31-kWh lithium-ion battery had a claimed best range this side of a Tesla Roadster, at an EPA-estimated 88 miles its on-board charger carried double the capacity of the Nissan Leaf's and the 85-mph top speed looked just fine, too.īut the potentially impressive tech was never realized. From a cost-savings perspective, the new modem may actually save you money on your hydro bill. (With Fisker in its dying throes, now only Tesla remains as a functioning member of the automotive world.) Coda pulled talent from all over the industry, installing former GM China president Phil Murtaugh as its CEO. Three years ago, the Los Angeles–based startup was coming up alongside Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive, all of which billed themselves as leaner, savvier automakers against the post-bailout mess of Chrysler and GM. Its automotive arm will be put into mothballs. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, Coda said it wanted to continue supplying batteries for utilities and commercial buildings. From the moment mainstream automakers like Nissan and Ford announced they would sell EVs, Coda was doomed. Well, who’d have thought a no-name, $40,000 Chinese electric car would fail? We’ve been waiting for Coda Automotive to declare bankruptcy-not in the mean-spirited, anti-EV trash talk you see on cable news, but as a matter of pure dollars and sense.