CODA to Site Electric Car Battery Manufacturing Facility in Ohio Pending DOE Loan
PR Newswire – SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 25 /PRNewswire/ — CODA, a California-based electric car and battery company, announced today its plans to build an automotive-grade lithium ion battery system manufacturing facility in Ohio. CODA is considering several sites within Ohio for the facility, which could employ more than 1,000 skilled manufacturing workers initially. Construction of the facility is contingent upon finalizing an incentive package with the state of Ohio and the approval of an application for a Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan (ATVM) to be submitted soon.
"CODA's decision to open a facility in our state means that Ohio workers will help manufacture the cars of the 21st century," said Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. "Ohio is quickly becoming a national leader in clean energy component manufacturing for the auto industry. In Ohio, CODA will find a rich manufacturing heritage, skilled workforce and entrepreneurial spirit."
Lio Energy Systems, a joint venture between CODA and Lishen Power Battery, would operate the facility. Lio Energy Systems currently operates a one-million square foot facility in Tianjin, China with the production capacity to produce more than 20,000 battery packs per year. The proposed facility in Ohio would replicate this facility. CODA will be the majority and control shareholder of the U.S. venture. Over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke toured the facility during the Obama administration's first cabinet-level trade mission in China. "International green technology partnerships can produce rapid job growth back home and deliver energy solutions abroad, and CODA's venture proves it," Locke said.
