Ritter addresses UQM annual meeting

GOLDEN – Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter stepped out of his Black Chevrolet Tahoe and into a white Coda Automotive all-electric vehicle in Golden Tuesday.

The vehicle demonstration was part of Frederick-based UQM Technologies Inc.’s (AMEX: UQM) annual meeting of shareholders. The electric motor company was recently awarded $45.1 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds through the U.S. Department of Energy. In all, $2.4 billion in matching grants was awarded for 48 battery and electric drive component projects. UQM is the first company in Colorado to receive this type of ARRA funding.

“Here in Colorado, we are trying to create an ecosystem that UQM is a part of,” Ritter said, addressing the UQM shareholders. “I really do believe this is the future of automotive technology in Colorado.”

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About a week before the grant was awarded, UQM finalized a deal to provide Santa Clara, Calif.-based Coda Automotive with its PowerPhase100 electric propulsion systems for the next 10 years. Coda CEO Kevin Czinger, attending the shareholder meeting, said the company intends to sell to fleet customers and California consumers by mid-2010.

Ritter was given a test drive of the Coda vehicle, which borrows its chassis from a Mitsubishi model with design elements from the Porsche Design Studio.

“It has very quick pickup,” Ritter said after the drive, likening it to taking his sister’s 1968 Firebird for a spin. “We didn’t go any faster than the speed limit, but we got there quickly.”

Shares of UQM finished the day up 4 percent, at $4.68.