 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive,Battery[1] |
| Founded | 2009; 17 years ago (2009)[2] |
| Defunct | May 2016; 9 years ago (2016-05) |
| Fate | Acquired byMullen Technologies andExergonix, Inc. |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California[1] |
Key people | Philip Murtaugh(CEO), Ashoka Achuthan(CFO), Steven "Mac" Heller (Executive Chairman) |
| Products | Coda Car[1] lithium-iron batteries |
| Parent | Coda Holdings (2009-2015)[2]Exergonix, Inc.[3] (2016-) |
| Website | Coda Energy |
Coda Automotive Inc. was a privately held American company headquartered inLos Angeles, California. The company designed and assembledlithium-iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery systems for automotive and power storage utility applications, andelectric cars.[1]Miles Automotive partnered withHafei and Qingyuan Electric Vehicle to establish Coda Automotive as an affiliate company.[4][5] The name CODA comes from themusical term 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.[6]
In June 2009, Coda announced the creation and funding of LIO Energy Systems,[7] a global joint-venture withLishen 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.[8]
Coda's sole vehicle offering was theCoda sedan, a four-door, five passengerelectric car powered by a battery pack that delivered aUnited States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-rated range of 88 mi (142 km), the longest among its class, although considerably less than theTesla Roadster andTesla Model S.[9] The electric car was released in March 2012,[10] and initially was available only inCalifornia.[11][12] After low initial sales of the Coda Car, Coda Automotive terminated 15% of its workforce,[13] and entered a period of financial difficulty.[14][15] By May 2013, Coda was seeking bankruptcy protection.[16] In 2014, the owner of Mullen Motor Cars decided to include the bankrupt Coda Automotive in the structure of this company, thus creating a new enterprise for the production of electric vehicles calledMullen Technologies.[17] By May 2016,Exergonix, Inc. acquired all remaining assets of the company.[3]
Coda Automotive's goal was to accelerate the adoption ofelectric vehicles andrenewable energy technology globally. To this end, Coda focused on improving performance and safety, reducing cost, and commercializing production of battery systems built for automotive applications, which it viewed as the "chief enabling technology" for all-electric cars. To reduce the cost of building its vehicles, Coda controlled all core design, and engineering work internally while partnering with established automotive manufacturers and suppliers to supplygliders. Coda's supply chain partners includedBorgWarner, UQM Technologies, EnergyCS,Continental Automotive Systems,Porsche Design Studios,Delphi, Celgard, Novolyte Technologies, OMITEC,Lear,Hella,Hafei, and Lishen. In total, Coda had more than thirty suppliers and partners on four continents.[18] In March 2012, Chinese car makerGreat Wall Motors formed a joint venture with Coda.[19]
Coda's first and only car was anall-electric, four-door, five passengerbattery electric vehicle (BEV), the Coda sedan. The car is powered by a 31kWhlithium ion iron phosphate (LiFePO44)battery pack that was larger than that of other vehicles in its class.[20] According to the EPA, the Coda's 31range of 88 mi (142 km) was the largest among its class. The EPA rated the Coda's combinedfuel economy at 73miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (3.2 L/100 km).[9][21] The car was backed by a 3-year, 36,000 mile limited warranty[22] and the battery system was backed by a 10-year, 100,000 mile limited warranty.[23]
Coda announced that the net price would beUS$37,250 before anyelectric vehicle federal tax credit and otherstate and local incentives that were available in the U.S.[23] Initial deliveries of the vehicle were planned for December 2010, but were pushed back to the second half of 2011.[24] Deliveries were rescheduled again for late 2011,[11] and then again to February 2012,[25] with first deliveries actually taking place in March 2012.[10] The car was sold only in California.[26]
Coda formed a global joint-venture with Lishen Power Battery, a global battery cell supplier toSamsung,Motorola, andApple. The joint venture was called LIO Energy Systems, and was created to design, manufacture, and sell battery systems. The name was selected because LIO is the reverse spelling of oil.[citation needed] Together, Coda and Lishen developed a lithium iron phosphate battery cell for transportation and utility applications, which included renewable energy (wind and solar power) storage.[27] LIO Energy Systems currently operates a manufacturing facility inTianjin and plans to build a U.S. facility inColumbus, Ohio.[28] Initially, the Coda sedan was to 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.[29][needs update]
In May 2010,U.S. Secretary of CommerceGary Locke visited the LIO Energy Systems facility inTianjin 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."[30]
Kevin Czinger and Miles Rubin founded Coda in 2009. Early funding raisedUS$125 million.[31] On January 6, 2011, Coda announced the first close of aUS$76 million Series D investment round, bringing the company's total invested capital to more thanUS$200 million.[32] LIO Energy Systems, CODA's joint venture with Lishen, was funded by aUS$100 million equity investment by the partners, and as such, entered into "cooperation agreements" for "up toUS$327 million of long-term credit."[33]
Notable investors included equity firmsHarbinger Capital Partners,[31]Piper Jaffray,[31] andRiverstone Holdings,[31] and personal investorsHenry "Hank" Paulson,[31]John Bryson,[31]Klaus Tschira,[31]Les Wexner,[31]Mack McLarty,[31]Miles Rubin,[31] Steven “Mac” Heller,[31] andTom Steyer.[31]
After selling approximately 100 Coda cars in California, Coda filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 1, 2013.[34] Coda Holdings stated that it expected to emerge from the bankruptcy process to focus solely on its subsidiary Coda Energy, and would abandon car manufacturing, which is capital intensive.[16][35][needs update]
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.[36] The complaint was resolved in January 2014.[37]
From 2014 to 2015, the Coda website was inaccessible. In 2015, the website was bought up by a used car dealer inLouisville, Kentucky,[38] who had left in most of the original Coda website's contents, not including the homepage and a few other, minor pages.[39]On April 19th 2025, the website was sold again and bought by aSteroid company calledGrizzly Steroids as a redirect site to their main website.[40]
Lung disease advocacy group Breathe California named Coda a Clean Air Award winner in the Technology Development category on April 19, 2010.[41]
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.[42]
