Coda Automotive

CODA Automotive, Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Automotive, battery[1]
Founded	2009
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California[1]
Key people	Miles Rubin (Founder & Chairman Emeritus), Steven "Mac" Heller (Executive Chairman), Philip Murtaugh (CEO), John Bryson (Director),Alan Chesick (Director), Lord John Brown (Director), James McGinnis (Director), Daniel Weiss (Director),Niall Davis (Director)
Products	CODA electric car [1]
Website	CODA Automotive LIO Energy Systems

CODA Automotive Inc. is a privately held American company headquartered in Los Angeles, California , that designs, semi manufactures, and sells electric vehicles (EVs) and Lithium-ion (LiFePO4) battery systems built for automotive and power storage utility applications.^[1] The word CODA is a musical term that denotes the concluding passage of a piece of music, from the Italian word coda (tail). 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.^[2]

CODA’s first vehicle, the CODA, is a four-door, five passenger electric car powered by a battery pack that will deliver a range of 150 miles (240 km) per charge according to CODA.^[3] The electric car market launch has been re-scheduled several times and now is slated for delivery in late 2011. Initially the all-electric CODA will be available only in California.^[4][5]

In June 2009, CODA announced the creation and funding of LIO Energy Systems,^[6] a global joint-venture with Lishen 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.

Corporate strategy and partners

CODA employees at HQ in Santa Monica, CA

CODA Automotive’s goal is to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy technology globally. To this end, CODA has focused on improving performance and safety, reducing cost and commercializing production of battery systems built for automotive applications, which it views as the “chief enabling technology” for all-electric cars. To reduce the cost of building its vehicles, CODA controls all core design and engineering work internally while partnering with established automotive manufacturers and suppliers around the world. CODA’s supply chain partners include BorgWarner, UQM Technologies, EnergyCS, Continental Automotive Systems, Porsche Design Studios, Delphi, Celgard, Novolyte Technologies, OMITEC, Lear, Hella, Hafei and Lishen. In total, CODA has more than thirty suppliers and partners on four continents.^[7]

Models & products

CODA

The CODA electric car will be launched in late 2011.

CODA’s first car is an all-electric four-door, five passenger battery electric vehicle (BEV), the CODA. The car is powered by a 34 kWh lithium ion iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery system that is substantially larger than that of other vehicles in its class.^[8] CODA states the vehicles' range to be up to 150 mi (240 km) per charge but the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not published yet the official range.^[3] The battery system features an active thermal management system, which CODA states will give the vehicle a more dependable range than other BEVs and improved battery system durability.^[9] The vehicle features a 6.6 kW on board charger which charges the vehicle at a rate twice that of the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt. It can be charged from depletion in under six hours when plugged into a level-two (220V) charge station. The company estimates that it will cost less than US$3, on average, to charge the vehicle overnight (160 km). The car is backed by a 3-year, 36,000 mile limited warranty^[10] and the battery system is backed by an 10-year, 100,000 mile limited warranty.^[3]

CODA debuts at 2010 LA Auto Show

In order to reduce the cost of building a vehicle from the ground-up, CODA re-engineered an existing, gasoline powered vehicle, the Hafei Saibao.^[11] The car was designed by Pininfarina and unveiled at the 2004 Beijing Auto Show.^[12] The base Saibao chassis is licensed by Mitsubishi. CODA engineers modified the design to improve safety and successfully completed two of the tests necessary to gain FMVSS certification in the second quarter of 2009; The full frontal impact test at 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) and the 40% offset test at 45 miles per hour (72 km/h).^[13] Safety features include a 6-air bag system, pre-tensioner equipped seat belts, occupant detection, knee bolsters and a collapsible steering column. The company expects the vehicle will achieve a four or five-star NCAP crash rating.

CODA announced that net price will be US$39,900 before any electric vehicle federal tax credit and other state and local incentives that are available in the U.S.^[3] Initial deliveries of the vehicle were planned for December 2010 but were pushed back to the second half of 2011 as CODA decided to have more time available to ensure the quality of the car,^[14] and later were again re-scheduled for late 2011. The electric car will be initially available only in California.^[4]

CODA made its consumer auto show debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show November 19-28, 2010.^[15] As part of an ongoing commitment to educate consumers about sustainability and green energy technology, CODA will host a series of educational seminars throughout the show, ultimately reaching more than 600 students. Like its business model and car, CODA's booth was a break from tradition and was designed to showcase the company's brand identity. "Zen meets Tech" is the overarching aesthetic theme. The booth was constructed largely out of eco-friendly materials. The walls are constructed from salvaged Picklewood that was collected from various sites in North America. The floor is made from recycled rubber, the graphics are printed on recycled papers with eco-friendly inks and live plants have been incorporated. A central element of the booth is the "Commitment Wall" which visitors will populate with their thoughts on sustainability, the environment and green technology. A large media wall showcased a variety of videos about CODA, its employees and the benefits of electric vehicles.

Battery production and distribution joint-venture

LIO Energy Systems

CODA has a global joint-venture with Lishen Power Battery, a global battery cell supplier to Samsung, Motorola and Apple, for the design, manufacture and sale of battery systems called LIO Energy Systems. The name was selected because “LIO” is the semordnilap (reverse spelling) of “oil.” Together, CODA and Lishen developed a lithium iron phosphate battery cell for transportation and utility applications including renewable energy (wind and solar power) storage.^[16] LIO Energy Systems currently operates a manufacturing facility in Tianjin and plans to build a U.S. facility in Columbus, Ohio.^[17] Initially, the CODA will 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.^[18]

In May 2010 U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke visited the LIO Energy Systems facility in Tianjin 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."^[19]

Financial history & investors

On January 6, 2011 CODA announced the first close of a US$76 million Series D investment round, bringing the company’s “total invested capital” to more than US$200 million^[20]. Lio Energy Systems, CODA's joint venture with Lishen, is funded by a US$100 million equity investment by the partners and has entered into “cooperation agreements” for “up to US$327 million of long-term credit.”^[21]

CODA’s investors include:

• Aeris CAPITAL – a private Swiss investment office
• Harbinger Capital Partners - private hedge fund based in New York City, New York.
• Riverstone Holdings - a private equity firm based in New York City, New York.
• Piper Jaffray - a U.S. middle-market investment banking firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Angeleno Group – a Los Angeles based private equity firm
• EDB Investments (EDBI) – an investment firm headquartered in Singapore
• Countyline LLC – an investment entity owned by Tony Pritzker and J.B. Pritzker
• Miles L. Rubin – Founder and Chairman Emeritus of CODA Automotive; former CEO of Detroit Iron & Steel Industries, Reliance Manufacturing, Puritan Fashions Corp. and Polo Ralph Lauren Jeanswear
• Steven “Mac” Heller – Executive Chairman of CODA Automotive; former Goldman Sachs Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Worldwide and Co-Head of the Investment Banking Division
• Tom Steyer – Managing Director of Hellman & Friedman, a San Francisco private equity firm; Founder, Co-Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Farallon Capital; member of the Board of Trustees of Stanford University
• Les Wexner – Chairman and CEO of Limited Brands
• Henry "Hank" Paulson - former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, former Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs and special representative of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue
• Mack McLarty – (Thomas "Mack" McLarty) Former Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton, President of McLarty Associates and McLarty Companies, a transportation business based in Little Rock, Arkansas
• Kevin Czinger - Senior Strategic Advisor, CODA Automotive; Former President and CEO at CODA Automotive, executive at Global Signal, Webvan Group, Bertelsmann AG, and Goldman Sachs

Board of Directors^[22]

• Miles L. Rubin - Founder and Chairman Emeritus, CODA Automotive; former CEO of Detroit Iron & Steel Industries, Reliance Manufacturing, Puritan Fashions Corp. and Polo Ralph Lauren Jeanswear
• Steven “Mac” Heller - Executive Chairman, CODA Automotive; former Goldman Sachs Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Worldwide and Co-Head of the Investment Banking Division
• Alan Chesick - Acting Legal Advisor of CODA Automotive, former general counsel of Fortress Investment Group
• Daniel Weiss - Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Angeleno Group LLC, a leading Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on high growth investments in the energy sector
• John Bryson - Former Chairman, CEO and President of Edison International from 1990 through 2008, a director at The Boeing Company, The Walt Disney Company, and the California Institute of Technology
• Niall Davis - One of ten founding partners of Swiss aeris CAPITAL AG, a large global private equity firm
• Philip Murtaugh - CEO, CODA Automotive; former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GM China, EVP International Operations of SAIC
• James P. McGinnis - Managing Director, Harbinger Capital Partners
• Lord John Browne – Managing Director and Managing Partner of Riverstone Holdings LLC, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Chair of the Tate, Member of the House of Lords}}

Board of Advisors^[23]

• Mack McLarty – (Thomas "Mack" McLarty) Former Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton, President of McLarty Associates and McLarty Companies, a transportation business based in Little Rock, Arkansas
• Dr. Thomas Cardello – Partner of Sunrise Capital, an institutional fund manager, Advisory Director and former MD of Global Electronic Derivative Market making for Morgan Stanley
• Dr. Michael Wang – Manager of the Systems Assessment Section of the Center for Transportation Research at Argonne Labs, serves as a senior advisor to the Chinese government on new vehicle technology and alternative energy production
• Henry "Hank" Paulson - former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, former Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs and special representative of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue
• Thomas F. Steyer - Managing Director of Hellman & Friedman, a San Francisco private equity firm; Founder, Co-Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Farallon Capital; member of the Board of Trustees of Stanford University
• Woo C. Lee - Head of Asia for the advisory firm JL Thornton & Company, formerly a U.S. diplomat at American embassies in China, Japan, Australia and Southeast Asia
• Thomas R. McDaniel - Director of SunPower Corp., SemGroup, LP, Cypress Envirosystems, and the Senior Care Action Network and Formerly executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of Edison International
• Kevin Czinger - Senior Strategic Advisor, CODA Automotive; Former President and CEO at CODA Automotive, executive at Global Signal, Webvan Group, Bertelsmann AG, and Goldman Sachs

Awards

Lung disease advocacy group Breathe California named CODA a Clean Air Award winner in the technology development category on April 19, 2010.^[24]

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.^[25]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} CODA Holdings Celebrates Global Headquarters Grand Opening Ceremonies with California Governor Jerry, PRNewswire, 2011-11-10, http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/coda-holdings-celebrates-global-headquarters-grand-opening-ceremonies-with-california-governor-jerry-brown-and-los-angeles-mayor-antonio-villaraigosa-133655913.html, retrieved 2011-11-17 
2. ^ "CODA Automotive The All-Electric Car Company". CODA Automotive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PRRrLd3U84&hd=1. Retrieved 2011-11-19. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield (2011-11-16). "2011 LA Auto Show: Coda Releases Pricing, Details on 2012 Sedan". Green Car Reports. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1068689_2011-la-auto-show-coda-releases-pricing-details-on-2012-sedan. Retrieved 2011-11-16. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Brad Berman (2011-04-25). "First Coda Electric Car Deliveries Now “Late Fourth Quarter” 2011". PluginCars.com. http://www.plugincars.com/first-coda-deliveries-now-aimed-late-fourth-quarter-2011-107078.html. Retrieved 2011-04-27. 
5. ^ "L.A. auto show: Coda pushes EV launch back to second half of 2011". Autoweek. http://www.autoweek.com/article/20101118/LOSANGELES/101119858. Retrieved 2010-11-18. 
6. ^ Chris Woodyard (2010-05-25). "CODA to build big plant in Ohio – if grants come through". USA Today. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/05/coda-to-build-big-plant-in-ohio----if-grants-come-through/1. Retrieved 2010-06-23. 
7. ^ Kevin Czinger. "Funding a Movement of Positive Energy". CODA Automotive. http://blog.codaautomotive.com/funding-a-movement-of-positive-energy-by-kevin-czinger-ceo//1. Retrieved 2010-06-23. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ "How the 2011 Coda Sedan hopes to compete with the Nissan Leaf". http://venturebeat.com/2010/10/04/how-the-2011-coda-sedan-hopes-to-compete-with-the-nissan-leaf/. 
9. ^ "Not Too Hot, Not Too Cold--How to Please an EV Battery". Fast Company. http://www.fastcompany.com/1681470/not-too-hot-not-too-cold-how-to-please-an-ev-battery. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
10. ^ "CODA Automotive Launches Direct-to-Consumer Sales of Its All-Electric, Zero Tailpipe Emissions Sedan". PRNewswire. 2010-09-21. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/coda-automotive-launches-direct-to-consumer-sales-of-its-all-electric-zero-tailpipe-emissions-sedan-103457714.html. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
11. ^ "Hafei Saibao EV: The First Chinese-made Car to Be Sold in the U.S.?". ChinaAutoWeb.com. http://chinaautoweb.com/2010/10/hafei-saibao-ev-the-first-chinese-made-car-to-be-sold-in-the-u-s/. 
12. ^ Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield. "CODA Close on Series C Round Funding, Investment now $125m". All Cars Electric. http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1045260_coda-close-series-c-round-funding-investment-now-125m. Retrieved 2010-06-23. 
13. ^ Domenick Yoney. "Hafei Saibo EV passes crash test; good news for Miles’XS500". Autoblog Green. http://green.autoblog.com/2008/08/29/hafei-saibao-ev-passes-crash-test-good-news-for-miles-xs500/. Retrieved 2010-06-23. 
14. ^ Katie Fehrenbacher. "Coda Pushes Back Sales Date of Electric Sedan". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS145537590420101116. Retrieved 2010-11-20. ^{[dead link]}
15. ^ CODA Automotive. "CODA Automotive Makes Auto Show Debut in Los Angeles". PRNewswire. http://www.codaautomotive.com/news-press-release/2010/111710-coda-auto-show-debut-zen-meets-tech.html. Retrieved 2010-11-17. 
16. ^ "Who is Lio?". Lio Energy Systems. http://lioenergysystems.com/whoislio.html. Retrieved 2010-06-23. 
17. ^ "Some Roads to US Electric Car Batteries Go Via China". The Wall Street Journal. 2010-05-22. http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/05/22/some-road-to-us-electric-car-batteries-goes-via-china. 
18. ^ "Global Energy Experts James P. McGinnis and Lord John Browne Join CODA's Board of Directors". http://www.codaautomotive.com/news-press-release/2011/global-energy-experts-join-coda-board.html. 
19. ^ "Global Energy Experts James P. McGinnis and Lord John Browne Join CODA's Board of Directors". http://www.codaautomotive.com/news-press-release/2011/global-energy-experts-join-coda-board.html. 
20. ^ "CODA Holdings Raises $76 Million in Series D Initial Closing". http://www.codaautomotive.com/news-press-release/2011/010611-coda-raises-76-million-seriesd.html. Retrieved 2011-01-06. 
21. ^ "Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to Visit CODA's Electric Car and Clean Energy Storage Battery Manufacturing Facility". PR Newswire. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/commerce-secretary-gary-locke-to-visit-codas-electric-car-and-clean-energy-storage-battery-manufacturing-facility-94600239.html. 
22. ^ "List of CODA Board of Directors". http://www.codaautomotive.com/board_of_directors.html. Retrieved 2010-06-23. ^{[dead link]}
23. ^ "List of CODA Board of Advisors". http://www.codaautomotive.com/advisory_board.html. Retrieved 2010-06-23. ^{[dead link]}
24. ^ Sam Abuelsamid. "Breathe California gives clean air award to CODA Automotive". CODA Automotive. http://green.autoblog.com/2010/04/19/breathe-california-gives-clean-air-award-to-coda-automotive/. Retrieved 2010-06-23. 
25. ^ "AlwaysOn names CODA a GoingGreen 100 winner". http://www.aonetwork.com/AOStory/Announcing-2010-GoingGreen-Silicon-Valley-100. Retrieved 2010-06-23. 

External links

• Official CODA website
• Official LIO Energy Systems website
• Official CODA Automotive Twitter page
• Official CODA Automotive Facebook page