LONGMONT - The last quarter was a disappointing one for UQM Technologies Inc., a company based outside of Longmont that develops alternative-energy technology, as revenue decreased 29 percent from the year before as demand from its largest customer dropped.

UQM Technologies reported revenue of $1.9 million for its third quarter ending Dec. 31, down from $2.7 million for the same quarter in 2011. That contributed to a net loss of $4.6 million, or 12 cents per common share. UQM lost $800,000, or 3 cents per common share, during the quarter in 2011.

Another cause for the loss was lack of shipments to CODA, a California-based electric vehicle manufacturer that signed a major contract with UQM Technologies for propulsion systems. UQM incurred a charge of $3.8 million, or 10 cents per common share, to establish an allowance for doubtful accounts for CODA receivables.

UQM Technologies is trying to expand its customer base, president and chief executive Eric Ridenour said.

"Despite the lack of shipments to CODA this quarter and the need to take a charge to earnings, we demonstrated our ability to diversify our customer base by delivering a more than a 50 percent increase in revenues to customers outside of CODA," Ridenour said in a press release. "During the quarter we continued to aggressively pursue discussions with potential customers globally, including in China, and took several steps to proactively lower our expenses and improve operating efficiencies to ensure that we have the financial and technical resources to pursue and execute the many opportunities that lay ahead with our various customers."