【英语中国】Coda电动汽车公司将采用中国电池技术在美设厂

California-based electric-car start-up Coda Automotive plans to build a factory in Ohio that it said could employ more than 1,000 workers and use Chinese technology to make lithium-ion batteries for an all-electric car Coda plans to launch this year.

The announcement Tuesday is a rare example of a U.S. auto maker tapping a Chinese company for advanced technology. Another unusual facet of the venture is the planned creation of manufacturing jobs both in China and the U.S.

Closely held Coda will assemble its electric cars in the Los Angeles area with modules produced in China. It will initially make the car available only in California, where it is targeting sales of 14,000 electric sedans by the end of 2011.

Initially, Coda plans to import batteries from Tianjin, China, where Coda recently opened a battery plant it jointly owns and runs with Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co.

That plant can make more than 20,000 battery packs a year, but because electric-car-grade batteries are heavy and expensive to ship across the Pacific, Coda has been searching for a production site in the U.S.

The Santa Monica, Calif., company said it is considering several sites in Ohio for the facility.

Construction of the plant is contingent upon finalizing an incentive package with the state of Ohio and the approval of a loan from the Department of Energy, which the company said it plans to submit soon.

Coda discloses few details about its financial situation; the company said in March that together with Lishen it had raised $100 million in committed capital for the Tianjin venture.

Its board of advisers includes Henry Paulson, the former U.S. Treasury secretary and chief executive of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., who has taken an undisclosed stake in the company.

While the basic technology for lithium-ion batteries has been around for a while, making the batteries safe enough to power cars has proved elusive.

A few years ago when Coda began designing its all-electric sedan, 'there were no U.S. suppliers of [large, vehicle-grade] battery systems, period,' Coda Chief Executive Kevin Czinger said in an interview in Tianjin last weekend, prompting Coda to look to China.

Lishen, an established supplier of lightweight batteries for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPod Touch devices, 'fully supports our decision' to build a plant in the U.S., rather than producing the batteries in China and exporting them to the U.S., said Mr. Czinger, who like Mr. Paulson has a professional past at Goldman Sachs.

Mr. Czinger said Coda will be the controlling shareholder of the battery-production venture in Ohio. Lishen, he said, is expected to take a 'small minority interest' in the operation.

Mr. Czinger said Coda aims to replicate in Ohio the Coda-Lishen manufacturing plant in Tianjin, which he showed off this past weekend to visiting U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

Coda said its sedan will have a driving range of 100 to 120 miles on a full charge. It will cost buyers about $35,000 after some $7,000 to $7,500 in federal tax incentives.

Coda says its car will compete with electric vehicles such as the $32,780 Nissan Leaf, which Japan's Nissan Motor Co. has plans to launch in the U.S. in December.

加州Coda Automotive电动汽车公司宣布计划在俄亥俄州建一个雇员规模超过一千人的电池生产厂，使用中国技术为该公司将于今年推出的全电动汽车生产锂离子电池。

周二发布的该项声明实属罕见，因其表明一家美国汽车制造厂要使用中国公司提供的先进技术。其不同寻常之处还在于，计划进行的制造工作将在中美两地进行。

Coda AutomotiveCoda首席执行长辛格（左）在天津与美国商务部长骆家辉（中）讨论电动汽车的电池事宜少数人控股的Coda将在洛杉矶地区用中国产的组件进行电动汽车组装。该公司生产的电动汽车开始将只在加州销售，预计到2011年底销售量达1.4万辆。

起初Coda公司计划从中国天津进口电池。该公司新近在天津新开了一家电池厂，与天津力神电池股份有限公司(Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-Stock Co)合资经营。

天津的这家电池厂年产量超过两万组，但因电动车所用电池较重，且跨海船运成本较高，Coda公司一直在寻求在美国设一个生产地。

这家位于加州圣塔莫尼卡的公司说，公司正在考虑俄亥俄州的几处地点以确定厂址。

建厂的地址将视最后确定的俄亥俄州政府提供的激励性措施及能源部(Department of Energy)的贷款许可而定，该公司说将尽快上交申请。

Coda公司并未披露其财务状况的详细情况。该公司在3月份曾说与力神公司一起，为在天津设厂募集到1亿美元。

该公司的顾问班子包括美国前财长及前高盛集团(Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)首席执行长鲍尔森(Henry Paulson)，他在该公司的持股数一直密而不宣。

尽管锂离子电池基本技术面世已有一段时间了，但电动车电池的可靠性一直不佳。

几年前，Coda公司开始设计自有的全电动汽车。Coda首席执行长辛格(Kevin Czinger)上周末他在天津接受采访时说，美国过去没有大型电动汽车车电池供应商。这促使Coda公司依靠中国厂家。

力神以为苹果公司(Apple Inc.)的iPhone与iPod Touch设施提供轻型电池而知名。辛格说，该公司全力支持Coda在美设厂，而不是在中国生产电池再出口至美国。辛格像鲍尔森一样，也有曾在高盛工作的职业经历。

辛格说，Coda将是在俄亥俄州所设电池生产厂的控股股东。而力神在该厂运营中将有“一小部分少数股权”。

辛格说，Coda要在俄亥俄州复制与力神在天津的合资经营生产厂。上周末，他曾向去厂参观的美国商务部长骆家辉(Gary Locke)大加夸耀。

Coda公司说其生产的电动汽车充满电后的驾驶里程为100至120英里。计入联邦政府7,000 至7,500美元的减税后，用户支付的实际价格约为每辆3.5万美元。

Coda公司说，该公司生产的电动汽车将与售价为3.278万美元的日产Leaf等电动汽车展开竞争。日产汽车公司(Nissan Motor Co.)计划于12月在美国推出日产Leaf。