First Coda All Electric Car Rolls Out of Amports Benicia Facility

After the introduction of a new all electric vehicle, Coda Automotive rolled the first car for the U.S. market out of the final assembly shop at the Amports facility in Benicia.

With numerous dignitaries watching the car was driven out of the assembly area by a Coda employee.  It will be delivered to the Coda Silicon Valley dealership this week and the final owner is expected to pick up the car Friday.

Thomas Hausch, a senior vice president for Coda said about 700 cars have been reserved so far and that the firm has yet to do any advertising.  “This is one of the first events we are making public,” said Hausch.

Coda of Silicon Valley is the first of five dealerships planned for the Bay Area and according to Hausch Benicia is still in the running for on e of the dealerships. 

Asked if Benicia would get one of the dealerships, Hausch was non-committal. “It’s still a possibility,” he said.  “We’ve identified five market areas in the Bay Area and one of them is definitely in the Benicia area but a final decision hasn’t been made yet.”

This car is zero emissions,” said Mac Heller, executive chairman of CODA Holdings.  “”I can’t talk about tailpipe emissions because this car doesn’t have a tailpipe.”

Among those on hand for the roll out of the first Coda vehicle was Benicia Economic Development Board member Ron Myska who owns All Points Petroleum, a distributor of petroleum products like gasoline and diesel fuel.  Myska isn’t worried about how electric cars will affect his business.

“We come in with a little different perspective,” said Myska.  “It’s a different kind of sale.  We can sell propylene glycols-environmentally friendly coolants- and gear oil for the electric cars.”

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If there’s something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor JB Davis at 707-628-0051 or email him at benicia@patch.com.