A Saudi ingredient in Coda's EV melting pot
 | Ryan Beene is a Los Angeles-based reporter for Automotive News. |
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LOS ANGELES -- You can add a new layer to the global mélange that makes up Coda Automotive.
The startup maker of electric vehicles assembled in California from vehicle bodies and powertrains made in China based on an old Mitsubishi platform has added a Saudi Arabian investment firm to its roster of stakeholders.
Phil Murtaugh, Coda's CEO, introduced the Al-Dhowayan Group as Coda's latest investor at an event here Friday marking the first retail delivery of a Coda Sedan.
"They have been with us all week, and they informed us this morning that they have decided to invest," Murtaugh said.
Terms weren't disclosed, and a representative of the group at the event declined to comment. Expect Coda, whose name comes from the Italian word for tail, to make an announcement soon.
Until then, here's an interesting nugget to chew on: An investment firm from one of the most oil-rich nations on the planet is betting on a startup pitching EVs as part of the answer to America's addiction to fossil fuels.
