Coda EV Set to Sell By Month's End
Coda CEO Phil Murtaugh knows a thing or two about the car industry and expects to be selling their cars by the end of the month.
Before taking the reigns at the Los Angeles startup, Murtaugh spent 10 years as the head of GM China. Not surprisingly, his current project takes advantage of the connections he made during that decade by sourcing most of their parts from the country.
It’s a policy that prompted some criticism, though Murtaugh said to the Detroit News that they plan to run a more U.S.-centric operation if they can secure a loan from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Loan program.
As for the car, customers can head to the company site to peruse options for the as-of-yet unnamed vehicle.
There’s lots to look at, but frankly we’re still scratching our heads a little on this one. The Coda, as it’s simply referred to on the site, can run for a 150 mile range, sure, but at $39,900 it seems like a tough sell next to the Nissan Leaf’s $35,200 tag, before tax credits.
It’s also hideous. The thing seems to take styling cues from late 90’s that are bland enough to make a Camry seem exotic.
It’s hard to look past the fact that the same cash could buy you a car that doesn’t look completely out of date.
The Coda also only has about 143 horsepower and is electronically limited to 85 mph. We wish the company luck, but it looks like they’ll need a lot more than that to push products.
[Source: Detroit News]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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Not since the PT Cruiser and the Cube, have I looked at something so hideous.