CODA

CODA Automotive was the vehicle division of Los Angeles-based CODA Holdings and grew from the electric-vehicle work of Miles Electric Vehicles. The CODA name and consumer-car program emerged publicly in 2009 under executives including founder Miles Rubin and automotive entrepreneur Kevin Czinger. Its only vehicle was a conventional-looking four-door, five-passenger battery-electric Sedan. The body/glider architecture came from China's Hafei Saibao III, a Pininfarina-styled gasoline sedan, but CODA re-engineered the propulsion, battery, controls and U.S.-market equipment. Gliders and lithium-iron-phosphate cells were produced in China, battery activity involved Lishen and the LIO Energy Systems joint venture, the 100 kW UQM traction motor came from Colorado, and final vehicle assembly took place in Benicia, California. A prototype or engineering mule was unveiled in June 2009 with retail launch initially promised for 2010; delays pushed the actual program to model year 2012. CODA announced production in late 2011, but the first retail-sale car left Benicia final assembly on March 12, 2012 and customer deliveries began March 19. The production Sedan used a 31 kWh LiFePO4 pack, 134 hp and 221 lb-ft electric motor, single-speed drive, regenerative braking and active air thermal management. EPA ratings were 88 miles of range and 73 MPGe combined; company claims of up to 125 miles reflected a different urban test or favorable use, not the EPA combined range. A 6.6 kW onboard charger enabled a full 240 V charge in about six hours. Base MSRP was $37,250 before destination or incentives, maximum speed was about 85 mph, and CODA advertised a 10-year/100,000-mile battery warranty. Earlier literature described a 33.8 kWh pack and up to 150 miles, while CODA announced two range/price options; these were development or battery configurations of the same Sedan rather than separate vehicle models. Sales remained extremely low. CODA said more than 100 had sold, and a federal curtain-airbag recall ultimately covered 117 model-year-2012 vehicles; the figures measure different populations and neither is treated as a complete prototype-plus-production total. Safety problems included side-curtain airbag recalls, and NHTSA testing returned a poor frontal-crash result. CODA reduced staff and filed for Chapter 11 protection on May 1, 2013. Remaining cars were later acquired and liquidated by outside dealers. Bankruptcy buyers reorganized the stationary-storage assets as CODA Energy; that successor energy business was not a continuing automobile marque. One Sedan row exhausts the CODA vehicle range: the 2009 mule, changing battery proposals and retail car are one program, while no credible second CODA body style reached prototype or sale.

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