Coda Automotive to launch all-electric vehicle in the fourth quarter

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As Coda Automotive prepares to launch its all-electric, China-built sedan in California in the fourth quarter of 2010, the Santa Monica company said it is focused on safety.

“We’ve worked to make it a safe car so [that], above all, families can use it,” said Dan Mosher, Coda’s chief financial officer at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco. “We are working to achieve the highest safety standards so that we can get a five-star crash rating. We’ll have a passenger-side occupant detection airbag, which is the most advanced 2011 model safety standard.”

In recent months, Coda has finalized the sedan’s engineering, settled on component suppliers and announced a joint venture with leading Chinese battery manufacturer Lishen. Last week, it also revealed that it had raised an additional $5 million.

Still on its to do list: meet the government’s safety requirements.

“We’re very close on safety certification efforts,’ Mosher said. ‘We’ve done a lot of crash testing and computer modeling. We’re within a few months from completing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requirements.”

When released, Coda’s electric sedan will cost in the “mid- to –low” $30,000 range, after the $7,500 federal tax credit. Mosher said the car will go 90 to 120 miles on a five-and-a-half hour charge.

Coda will sell the car at retail locations in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

--Yoni Cohen

Photograph: Coda, Credit: Coda Automotive