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GE to charge up the Coda EV

GE's WattStation EV charger will become the recommended charger for Coda's all-electric sedans, which are just starting production and will compete with the Nissan Leaf and Ford Focus.

Candace Lombardi
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.
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Candace Lombardi
2 min read
GE's WattStations are 240-volt Level 2 chargers compatible with standard EVs. GE Ecomagination

The GE WattStation EV charger has become the recommended charger for Coda's upcoming all-electric vehicles.

Coda has signed an agreement with GE Energy Industrial Solutions to sell the Level 2 charging stations for recharging EV batteries alongside its Coda sedans and to market them together.

GE WattStation's is a 240-volt Level 2 charger that is compatible with any standard EV. Currently, its competitors include the Ecotality Blink station and the Coulomb Technologies ChargePoint station.

Santa Monica, Calif.-based Coda is a fairly new automotive company that has set the ambitious goal to sell 50,000 EVs by 2015.

The company plans to open a series of Coda Experience Centers, Apple-like retail stores in malls and shopping centers that will try to offer a hip vibe. The first store, which opened in Los Angeles, has an "electric vehicle bar" and EV "gurus" to help potential customers learn about Coda EVs and separatemyth from truth when it comes to EVs in general.

Coda's all-electric five-passenger sedan started production this week and will sell in the U.S. for about $40,000--before government subsidies. The sedan has a range of up 150 miles on a single charge, according to the company. That range could be a significant help to the company in breaking into the U.S. market as it goes up against the Nissan Leaf and Ford Focus, since those cars claims average ranges around the 100-mile mark.

No doubt, its new kinship with GE will also help Coda establish brand recognition.

GE already has an EV charger deal in place with BetterPlace so that many of the latter's battery-swapping stations also offer GE's WattStations.