Electric carmaker opens global headquarters in Los Angeles
CODA Automotive
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Electric vehicle maker CODA Automotive opened its global headquarters at an event held yesterday that drew Gov. Jerry Brown and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The 100,000 square-foot space next to the Santa Monica (10) Freeway near Fairfax Ave. will house the company’s research and development division, and processing center.
CODA is set to begin sales of its first commercially available car in the coming year. The company will display the 2012 CODA, an all-electric sedan with a range of up to 150 miles per charge, at next week’s Los Angeles International Auto Show.
“We chose to place the global headquarters in Los Angeles not only because it is one of the most significant early markets for the deployment of electric vehicles, but because elected officials and business leaders have demonstrated their commitment to fostering a successful local cleantech industry,” said Phil Murtaugh, the chief executive officer of CODA Holdings, the carmaker’s parent company.
“We are excited about the many jobs we’ve already created for the area and look forward to many more as we expand and bring to market our all-electric sedan and energy storage products.”
The company employs 220 engineers, technicians and corporate staff at the location. The company says it plans to hire an additional 100 employees over the next year.
CODA also has a manufacturing plant in Benicia and a showroom at Westfield Century City.
“Dynamic innovation is a key building block of California’s 21st century economy,” Brown said.
“Car companies like CODA are investing in California because our laws encourage electric cars and recognize the paramount importance of reducing oil dependency.”
Villaraigosa called CODA’s arrival a boost to the city’s clean technology industry system.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the commitment of a Colorado-based electric truck maker to open a manufacturing plant in Chatsworth.
Boulder Electric Vehicle, which makes electric delivery trucks and work utility vehicles, leased a 28,000-square-foot facility and is tooling up the plant to eventually produce about 1,000 electric battery trucks per year, according to the mayor.
The plant is expected to support 30 jobs in the first year.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The shift of thousands of state prisoners to Los Angeles County custody will increase crime and reduce overall public safety unless the state gives Los Angeles and other cities money to respond, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and law-enforcement officials said today.
Starting this morning, people convicted of non-violent, non-serious, non-sex offender crimes will be sent to county jails instead of state prisons.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The mayors of California's largest cities, including Los Angeles, will meet with Gov. Jerry Brown today to ask him to find another way of balancing the state's budget without eliminating municipal redevelopment agencies and enterprise zones.
"I understand and respect the daunting fiscal challenge facing the governor and Legislature, and want to help craft an alternative that protects economic development for our communities most desperate for jobs,'' Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement.
The city's response to last year's Occupy Los Angeles protests and two-month encampment at City Hall cost taxpayers at least $4.7 million, according to reports.
From early October to late November, hundreds of demonstrators camped in tents at the 1.7-acre City Hall Park as part of the national Occupy Wall Street movement. Protestors called for government and corporations to address what activists described as a growing disparity between the rich and poor. The encampment culminated in a massive overnight raid by the Los Angeles
The City Council confirmed the appointment of a nine-year Police Commission veteran to the Fire Commission, a move the mayor said will help bolster confidence in the fire department.
"I am confident that Alan Skobin will provide valuable public safety insight to the Board of Fire Commissioners,'' Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement in response to the council's action.
