When Chinese car company BYD announced it was moving its North American headquarters to Los Angeles in April this year, California’s governor Arnold Schwarzenegger waxed lyrical about the company, which is backed by billionaire investor Warren Buffet. “Anytime Warren Buffet puts $300m in a company you know this is a serious company and this is a serious company here,” said the so-called “jobinator”.
The battery-turned-electric car company is so serious about doing business in California that it announced on Thursday that it plans to supply the State of California with all-electric buses for public projects by the end of next year. But it is in for an intellectual property challenge or two.
The idea of a Chinese automobile company supplying green technology to the mecca for all things pure and clean seems counter intuitive. On closer look though it is a perfect match: with it’s finances suffering, the Golden State could do with a little help from some cash-rich Chinese friends. And Chinese companies can be sure to find the kind of talent they need to further develop green technology.
According to Paul Lin, the company’s spokesman, BYD plans to start selling its K9 electric bus next year and its E6 electric care by 2012, two years earlier than anticipated. It also plans to open factories to build the buses.
The Shenzhen-based auto company, whose initials stand for Build Your Dreams, has already begun a trial program to roll out a fleet of electric cars with the Housing Authority of Los Angeles.
All sounds good. But questions have arisen about whether the Shenzhen-based car company actually owns all the rights to the technology it sells.
Specifically, some are concerned about the type of lithium used in the batteries that power the company’s cars.
In response to rumours that BYD’s plans to export had been delayed due to questions about the legality of its technology, Lin has said: “Since our power battery is widely used in many products, from EV manufacturers to various energy-storage projects, we are having problems with capacity.”
But these days the options for cheap technology are pretty slim and Chinese companies with solutions are plentiful.
