SANTA MONICA, CA - CODA, a California-based electric car and battery company, unveiled 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 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, the company said. 

"CODA's decision to open a facility in our state means that Ohio workers will help manufacture the cars of the 21st century," said Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio. "Ohio is quickly becoming a national leader in clean energy component manufacturing for the auto industry." 

Lio Energy Systems, a joint venture between CODA and Lishen Power Battery, would operate the facility. Lio Energy Systems currently operates a 1 million-square-foot facility in Tianjin, China, with the production capacity of 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. 

"With the help of our global family of partners, CODA's innovative team in Santa Monica has not only produced a battery system capable of powering affordable electric vehicles today, but has created the next great American manufacturing opportunity," said Kevin Czinger, president and CEO of CODA.