Who needs the federal government when you have a big Chinese company behind you?
That's what electric-vehicle maker Coda Automotive appears to be asking, now that the Los Angeles-based company has withdrawn its two-year-old request for $334 million in U.S. Department of Energy loans, according to Automotive News.
Coda didn't believe that the projected loan, part of the DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program, was going to be funded any time soon, according to Coda senior vice president of government affairs Forrest Beanum. Coda was going to use the funds to build a factory in Columbus, OH. Beanum confirmed to AutoblogGreen that Coda withdrew its loan application about a month ago, adding that Coda would consider reapplying for a loan.
The DOE has only distributed about a third of the $25 billion originally slated for its loan program. Other alt-fuel vehicle companies are either still waiting for DOE their full allotment of funds (Fisker Automotive) or went under because the cash was never delivered (Bright Automotive).
"We waited more than two years and our business continued to evolve past the point where the application where it stood with the Department of Energy made any sense for our business model," Beanum said.
Coda earlier this week reached an agreement with China-based Great Wall Motors to develop an electric vehicle for North America, Europe and China that, the company said, would sell for less than any other EV and would be price-competitive with gas-powered economy vehicles (after incentives). Last month, Coda sold the first of its Sedan EVs to customers in California. Coda charges $39,900 for a Sedan with an official 88-mile single-charge range. It is also planning a version that costs $2,650 less that will have less range.
That's what electric-vehicle maker Coda Automotive appears to be asking, now that the Los Angeles-based company has withdrawn its two-year-old request for $334 million in U.S. Department of Energy loans, according to Automotive News.
Coda didn't believe that the projected loan, part of the DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program, was going to be funded any time soon, according to Coda senior vice president of government affairs Forrest Beanum. Coda was going to use the funds to build a factory in Columbus, OH. Beanum confirmed to AutoblogGreen that Coda withdrew its loan application about a month ago, adding that Coda would consider reapplying for a loan.
The DOE has only distributed about a third of the $25 billion originally slated for its loan program. Other alt-fuel vehicle companies are either still waiting for DOE their full allotment of funds (Fisker Automotive) or went under because the cash was never delivered (Bright Automotive).
"We waited more than two years and our business continued to evolve past the point where the application where it stood with the Department of Energy made any sense for our business model," Beanum said.
Coda earlier this week reached an agreement with China-based Great Wall Motors to develop an electric vehicle for North America, Europe and China that, the company said, would sell for less than any other EV and would be price-competitive with gas-powered economy vehicles (after incentives). Last month, Coda sold the first of its Sedan EVs to customers in California. Coda charges $39,900 for a Sedan with an official 88-mile single-charge range. It is also planning a version that costs $2,650 less that will have less range.
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