EV club members get first rides in Coda Automotive electric sedan

Oh, to live in Southern California, the emerging epicenter of electric car start-ups. This past weekend, one of those start-ups, Coda Automotive, offered a few test rides in the current prototype of the company's upcoming all-electric sedan to members of the Diamond Bar Electric Vehicle Association. No drives yet – steering wheel duty was left to Coda CEO Kevin Czinger – but now we have the first independent review of what Coda is cooking up for their first offering thanks to our friend Paul Scott of Plug In America.

Some details: the car will have a 100-mile range from a 33.7 kWh lithium ion battery pack. The sedan weighs around 3,500 pounds, including the 700-lb battery. Czinger told Scott that the next-gen Coda sedan will be several hundred pounds lighter. First deliveries are expected for August 2010. Coda hopes to sell 2,000 units in the first year and then 20,000 in the second.

Here's what Scott has to say about riding in the car:

I didn't get to drive it myself, but [Czinger] wasn't afraid to put the car through it paces for us. Even with four full sized adults, the car performed very well. Acceleration off the line was decent and at about 40 mph going up a hill, the car was still able to accelerate strongly. 0-60 is just under 10 seconds and top speed is 85 mph.

What about the look, which hasn't been universally well-received? Scott writes:

The Coda's styling isn't going to turn heads on the highway, but since I often get asked why EVs have to look "so weird", I expect the vanilla styling will suit quite a few folks just fine. It's along the lines of a Toyota Corolla in size and looks.

One bit of news: Czinger told Scott that the sedan will likely sell for around $32,000 (after rebates), which is lower than the price announced in June of $45,000 (before incentives) that would have been in the mid-$30,000s in California. Read more over at EVs and Energy.

[Source: EVs and Energy]