Electric car startup Coda getting buried in lawsuits
Like Fisker Automotive, electric car company Coda Automotive is getting hit with lawsuits. It’s got over a half dozen filed within the last couple of months. Read more »
Remember: DOE rejected most of the electric car startups that wanted loans
While Fisker is in the spot light for failing to pay back its close to $200 million loan from the DOE, there were a half dozen other alternative car startups that wanted loans from the DOE but were rejected. Was the DOE’s ATVM performance all that bad? Read more »
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Electric vehicle outlook: 2012–2017
Overall, between 2012 and 2017, more than 900,000 light-duty PEVs will be sold in the United States. But there remain hefty inhibitors to mainstream plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) use, including limited vehicle driving range and large battery packs, not to mention steep prices. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Coda looks to China for second low cost electric car
A partnership between an LA-based electric car startup and a Chinese auto maker intends to produce “the most affordable EV on the market.” On Tuesday Coda announced that it has a new deal with Great Wall Motors Company to co-develop a low cost electric car. Read more »
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Ups and downs for cleantech in Q1
This quarter the EV market struggled to find its footing. Meanwhile, the smart-grid sector solidified and low-power technology proved itself important in the data center. Read more to learn what these news pieces and others mean for the larger space over the next few months. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Coda ships its first electric sedan (finally)
Electric-car startup Coda officially drove its first ready-to-ship electric car off the assembly line at its plant in the Northern California city of Benicia, California, on Monday morning, saying that the move is the start of its customer sales. It’s been a long time coming. Read more »
Coda is raising another $150M, soon to ship electric cars
Electric car company Coda Automotive is raising more funds as it moves closer to shipping its first electric sedans. According to a filing, the company is looking to raise another $150 million, and has closed $21.5 million of that round. Read more »
Electric car startup Coda takes aim at the power grid
Despite Coda just going into production of its inaugural electric sedan, the startup will announce on Friday it’s launching a division that plans to sell its batteries and battery management system to act as energy storage for the power grid. Read more »
Obama’s 1M electric car goal could be difficult
I look at the numbers for whether the DOE and Obama will be able to meet the goal of putting 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Read more »
10 things you should know about electric car startup Coda
Electric car startup Coda Automotive started production of its inaugural electric sedan this week, and expects to start delivering its first cars to dealers in December. Here are 10 things you need to know about Coda Automotive and its inaugural electric sedan. Read more »
China: Now the land of cleantech capital
China has long been perceived as the must-tackle market for clean power and cleantech, but it’s also become a spigot of private capital for startups that find the marriage of money and market opportunity particularly appealing. Read more »
Electric car maker Coda closes nearly $150M
Electric car startup Coda Automotive has raised close to $150 million in funding, the company announced late Monday. I think this is the same oversubscribe round that the company has been in the process of raising over the past year. Read more »
Fisker to use BMW engine for second electric car
Fisker Automotive, which finally began delivering its first plug-in electric hybrid car this summer, has begun promoting its second model in earnest as well. The company announced Thursday that its next car, dubbed “Project Nina,” will come with engines and other parts by BMW. Read more »
PHOTOS: Close-to-production Coda electric sedan
At the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas on Tuesday, I got a chance to check out a much closer-to-production version of the Coda sedan, with slightly new styling and more functionality. Read more »
Tesla and Coda: There’s Space for Indie EV Car Makers
Making all-electric vehicles is easier if you haven’t been building gas guzzlers for the better part of a century: That’s the mantra put firth by representatives from Tesla and CODA. Both said today at GigaOM’s Green:Net conference that there is space for indie EV car makers. Read more »
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Green IT Q1: Cleantech Breaking Out — and Bracing for Hard Times
Is the greentech industry headed for a breakout year or is it retrenching for hard times to come? The first three months of 2011 provided evidence that could support both assertions, with a big rise in venture capital investment and a big drop-off in global energy financing. Solar power remained the largest green technology sector in terms of venture capital investment, while in the world of electric vehicles, GM’s Chevy Volt hybrid and Nissan’s all-electric Leaf — the first two mainstream plug-in vehicles — hit the showroom floors in significant numbers. Meanwhile the smart grid sector’s relative dearth of VC investment was more than made up for by the massive round of acquisitions. Companies mentioned in this report include NRG Energy, Microsoft, Silver Spring Networks, Tesla and BrightSource Energy. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Coda to Open Electric Car Store This Summer
Looks like creating an in-store experience is the way to go for electric car companies. This week, electric car startup Coda Automotive is releasing images of its new store at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, Calif., which it plans to open this summer. Read more »
How Silicon Valley Can Drive Detroit Green
The latest wave of electric cars rolling into the market will be cars connected to the power grid and increasingly, to cellular networks. Along with smart meters and the smart grid, electric vehicles and EV charging stations will be areas to watch. Read more »
Electric Car Maker Coda Makes Progress On Funding
Electric car startup Coda has been in the process of raising $125 million — so now that the company has pushed back its launch date, how far along is the fund raise? Out of a planned $125 million Coda has raised $76 million. Read more »
Snow Day Is Test Day for Electric Cars
With a fresh blanket of snow covering the East Coast, the electric cars that have just been delivered to consumers in the U.S. will have their first chance for a winter driving test. Will GM’s Volt and Nissan’s LEAF maintain their battery range? Read more »
The State of the DOE Green Car Loans in 2010
While Uncle Sam has tapped a select few companies as winners for its green car loan program, it has left a much longer list of loan applicants disappointed or stuck in limbo. Here’s the state of the ATVM awards at the end of 2010: Read more »
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Green IT 2011: China Marches Towards Greentech Dominance
The world’s greentech industry is likely meeting the end of 2010 with a mix of relief and trepidation. Clouds are on the horizon for global investment in renewable energy, and VCs fret about realizing returns on their existing investments. Meanwhile, China boasts the world’s largest population ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Coda Pushes Back Sales Date of Electric Sedan
On the heels of management changes at Coda Automotive, the electric car startup has decided to push back the sales date of its inaugural all-electric sedan to the third quarter of 2011 from December 2010, interim CEO Steven “Mac” Heller told me in an interview. Read more »
Uh Oh: CODA CEO Steps Down
Sounds like there’s trouble brewing at CODA Automotive, the venture-backed startup which hopes to be one of the first to sell an all-electric sedan to mainstream consumers. Late Friday CODA announced that CEO Kevin Czinger will step down. Read more »
Coda Unveils Electric Car Pricing at $45K, Above Volt & LEAF
Electric vehicle maker startup Coda has finally released the pricing of its inaugural vehicle, and at almost $45,000 it’ll cost you almost $4,000 more than GM’s Volt, and over $12,000 more than the Nissan’s all-electric LEAF. Read more »
Everyone & Their Mom Are “Confident” of Auto DOE Loans
Execs at green car startups like to give the impression that hundreds of millions of dollars in DOE green car loans are just about to fill up their corporate bank accounts. For some, it could be true. For others, not so much. Read more »
First Solar’s 2GW China Project Hits Snag
Looks like bad news for First Solar. The Washington Post reported Thursday that the thin film solar PV leader may not have actually secured that 2-gigawatt solar farm planned for China’s desert, which it announced back in September of 2009. Read more »
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Green IT Overview, Q2 2010
In the second quarter of 2010, greentech startups scored record venture capital and increased spending despite a weak economy. Solar power retained its lead in greentech venture financing, while global investment for clean energy asset financing fell. China, meanwhile, underscored its rising might in the greentech industry, raising billions of dollars in green energy financing. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Carving a Path to Greentech in China
China has historically been a tough market to crack for foreign companies, and cleantech companies, too, face a number of hurdles in that space. Here’s what you need to know to start doing green business in China, and how to make the right ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Tesla IPO: Funds For Factory, Stores, Possible Acquisitions
Now that Tesla priced the range for its IPO last week you might be wondering what Tesla intends to use all those funds for? Well, while most of the funds will go for manufacturing of its next-gen car, Tesla could also uses the funds for acquisitions. Read more »
Coda's China Battery Venture Piles On $100M
Electric car startup Coda Automotive has just announced the first funding for its joint venture with Chinese battery giant Lishen. The duo has agreed to invest $100 million in the venture, which just snagged a $294 million line of credit. Read more »
Nissan LEAF to Sell for Under $45K: Report
Nissan, one of the automakers betting most heavily on the nascent electric vehicle market, will price its upcoming LEAF plug-in sedan in the range of 3.5 million to 4 million yen (about $38,600-$44,100) in Japan, according to a Mainichi Shimbun report picked up by MarketWatch on […] Read more »
My iPad Wish List: 10 App Requests
Watching the iPad’s first television spot on the Oscars Sunday night, I got giddy all over again in anticipation of getting my hands on this hot new product. Though it’s still a few weeks away, I’m even more excited for the applications that will be coming […] Read more »
John Bryson Picks Next Hot Green Startups: Coda, On-Ramp, Ostendo
John Bryson, former CEO of Edison International and co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, has a yen for startups that can take solar PV, smart meter communications, and battery technologies farther. At least those were some of the startups he plugged in his opening speech […] Read more »
Coda Automotive Clinches $25M for Electric Car
Coda Automotive, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based electric car startup that aims to launch a China-built sedan this year in California, has just raised $25 million from Aeris Capital (h/t Bloomberg). Coda, which spun out of low-speed electric vehicle maker Miles EV in June, has now raised […] Read more »
China's BYD Eyes SoCal for Its U.S. Electric Car Ambitions
As far as China’s BYD Co. is concerned, Los Angeles has at least five markings of a prime launchpad for electric vehicles: high population density, air pollution problems, a large car market, affluent consumers, and a yen for new technologies. That’s why the battery giant and […] Read more »
Barnes & Noble Reader Deets Appear
I am now officially pumped about the leaked Barnes & Noble e-book reader. It is beginning to look a lot like the Kindle with an important difference — a little touch screen at the bottom that can facilitate buying books right on the reader, or serving […] Read more »
Should Electric Vehicle Makers Be in the Battery Biz?
Any company hoping to launch a plug-in vehicle for mass market consumers has to be focused to some extent on battery cost — it’s the priciest part of the vehicle, making many models either prohibitively expensive for an average consumer at this point, or forcing the […] Read more »
Electric Vehicle Powerhouse: BorgWarner, UQM Team Up
In a move that could mark the birth of a powerhouse electric vehicle tech partnership, UQM Technologies and BorgWarner have just announced plans to collaborate on electric powertrain systems for hybrid and electric vehicles. First in line for the new duo’s technology is Coda Automotive, the […] Read more »
Electric Sedan Smackdown: Nissan LEAF vs. Tesla Model S vs. Coda Sedan
Call it the year of the electric sedan: After a series of delays, name changes, deals and design tweaks over the last two years, three automakers have unveiled their visions for a first generation of all-electric family vehicles. The latest model comes from Nissan, which set […] Read more »
