Coda ready to increase production, sales in 2013

Could it be possible that around one in seven of the non-luxury electric vehicles sold in the U.S. will be made by Los Angeles-based startup Coda Automotive?

That's what CEO Phil Murtaugh told Plug In Cars recently, despite the fact that the company has delivered a mere 100 Coda Sedans to the general public.

Murtaugh said he hoped Coda would eventually account for at least 15 percent of non-luxury (read: non-Tesla) electric vehicle sales, adding that about 1,000 more cars have been ordered. He called the period from March, when the Coda Sedan went on sale, through July a "soft launch." Murtaugh recently made similar claims of sales growth in an interview with Bloomberg News, saying that the company planned to broaden its U.S. dealership network to about 30 next year, including locations in Oregon and Florida.

While the Coda Sedan has been rated by the EPA to have a single-charge range of 88 miles – 15 miles more than the Nissan Leaf – it's also about $2,000 more expensive. Coda opened its LA headquarters late last year and is said to have raised more than $300 million in private funding.