Coda Auto: $40M more before EV launch

Fresh off the heels of a $24 million funding round in July 2009, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Coda Automotive told the Cleantech Group that it's seeking $40 million prior to launching sales of electric vehicles later this year.

Coda's electric sedan is expected to go 90 to 100 miles off a single charge, with top speeds of 80 miles per hour, said CFO Dan Mosher, speaking on the sidelines of the Cleantech Forum XXVI in San Francisco last week.

Coda plans to control distribution by opening retail stores in key locations, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. The initial focus is the U.S. market, where government incentives will reduce the price per vehicle to between $30,000 to $35,000—lower than its initial target of $45,000 (see Two White House alumni join $24M round for Coda). The company hopes to reach sales of about 20,000 vehicles a year.

With about two and a half years under its belt, Coda's key contribution to the vehicle comes in the thermal and battery management technologies, Mosher said. The thermal management system helps regulate the temperature of components even when the vehicle is off, improving its operations in cold or hot climates, Mosher said.

The 33.8-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion phosphate battery is to be supplied by Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock, a joint venture of Coda and Tianjin Lishen Battery. Coda owns 40 percent of the JV, with Lishen holding the remainder. Mosher said Lishen has spent 13 years perfecting the battery cells, which it also supplies to customers including Apple, Motorola, Samsung and Vodafone (see Maxwell Tech, Tianjin Lishen team up on batteries). The JV commissioned a battery factory in November 2009, with plans to ramp to its full production capacity of 20,000 per year.

Mosher said Coda plans to offer an eight year, 100,000 mile warranty on the battery.

Coda is seeking a 5-star crash rating for the sedan, which uses a Mitsubishi-licensed chassis built in China by HaFei Automobile Industry Group, based in Harbin, China. 

Coda plans to get its electric propulsion systems from UQM Technologies (AMEX:UQM), a popular choice among other makes of next-generation vehicles (see New bus a milestone fuel cell vehicle). Delphi is supplying the electric power steering, while Hanover, Germany's Continental AG (OTC:CTTAY) was tapped for the stability control.

Coda plans to outsource assembly and components but to retain control of the brand, design and IP in order to save on manufacturing costs and retain the flexibility to scale quickly.

Coda was launched last year by Miles Rubin of low-speed EV seller Miles Electric Vehicles, which in 2007 debuted its low-speed truck powered by a 72-volt battery system. The company manufactures its vehicles in China (see Miles Electric debuts small truck).

Coda’s investors include two former members of U.S. presidential administrations: Thomas McLarty, who served as chief of staff for U.S. President Bill Clinton; and Henry Paulson, the former U.S. secretary of the treasury under President George W. Bush. Other backer sin its Series B round included Farallon Capital Management founder Thomas Steyer, investment bank Piper Jaffray, Coda co-Chairman Steven Heller, Coda CEO Kevin Czinger, Coda board member John Bryson, Coda co-founder and Chairman Miles Rubin, and venture firm Angeleno Group. The company has not divulged the size of its first round of funding.

Mosher said a future application of Coda's battery management technology could be in utility-scale energy storage.