From Green Right Now Reports
CODA, the innocuous looking sedan that boldly promises the best range of any electric car on the market, officially entered its production phase this week.
The first fully outfitted silver, all-electric five-passenger Coda rolled off the assembly line at the plant in Benicia, Calif., on Monday, as factory workers cheered and company executives pledged to kick butt in a field that includes the Nissan Leaf, the Chevy Volt and the pricey Tesla Roadster.
CODA (we’ll see how long those capital letters last) is rated by the EPA to offer 88 miles per charge, but the company reports in a news release that it could go up to 125 miles under optimal conditions.
Looking at the mileage ratings another way, though, fails to give CODA the edge. At the EPA’s fueleconomy.gov website, the CODA is ranked as getting a combined city/highway “miles per gallon equivalent” of 73 versus 99 equivalency miles per gallon for the Leaf.
The Volt, with it’s mini-gas engine, rates a miles per gallon equivalency of 94. But while that number can be used to compare it with the CODA and the Leaf, the comparison is not apples to apples because the Volt is listed as a Plug-in Hybrid. The result for the Volt is that the cost to operate the vehicle can be higher than for pure EVs, if the driver relies partly on gasoline.
The CODA is assembled in the Bay Area (albeit with some Chinese parts), with marketing, research and design done at the company’s headquarters in Los Angeles. The firm is privately held.
The car’s lithium-ion battery pack, assembled in China, is covered with a 10-year warranty. The 2012 model has an MSRP of $37,250, but California, federal and individual state savings and credits could bring the price down to $27,250, according to the company. The car will be sold in California first, initially to reservation holders.
Thereafter the CODA will be available for purchase at dealerships throughout California, including CODA of Silicon Valley, run by Del Grande Dealer Group (DGDG in Northern California); Marvin K. Brown Auto Center in San Diego; and various locations in the Los Angeles region.