Governor lobbies to bring BYD hybrid car to Oregon

SHENZHEN, China -- In this far corner of China's manufacturing heartland, Gov. Ted Kulongoski's dream of making Oregon home to America's green car movement is about to roll off the assembly lines.

At BYD Auto Co., China's fast-growing automotive star, a plug-in electric hybrid sedan is just weeks from meeting millions of Chinese consumers. The F3DM, which runs up to 80 miles on a single charge and packs a 7-gallon tank, will probably launch in the United States by 2010.

Kulongoski, who clinched a deal last week to bring Nissan's pure-electric cars to Oregon, is vying for BYD's bid for a North American pilot site. On Friday, he met with BYD President and Chairman Wang Chuanfu at the company's mammoth headquarters nearly two hours from China's booming industrial zone.

"We're hoping to build a critical mass," Kulongoski said. "We're laying the infrastructure and hoping to bring change at home by reducing greenhouse gases. The most logical place to move toward is electric autos."

On a 10-day business trip in Asia, Kulongoski has trumpeted Oregon's status as the No. 1 hybrid market in the country and promoted an ambitious vision to automakers in Japan and China: electric charging stations every 60 miles along interstates. Tax incentives for Oregonians to buy electric cars. And tax bonuses for drivers to build car chargers in their garages.

If Oregon is successful in claiming a stake in the world's emerging electric car industry, ripples across many other sectors could provide a boost to the state's economy, hurt by the departure of Freightliner and other manufacturers.

Patrick Reiten, president of Pacific Power, said there will be growth -- and challenges -- in meeting the power supply needs that come with electric cars. Pacific Power is owned by Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, which in September bought a 10 percent stake in BYD for about $230 million -- a relationship Kulongoski hopes will help nudge BYD to Oregon.

Bill Wyatt, executive director of the Port of Portland, has met with BYD executives several times. The Port is a major gateway for Japanese and South Korean cars, with about 450,000 Toyotas, Hyundais and Hondas arriving last year. Wyatt said the Port has courted Chinese carmakers in preparation for the flood of Chinese autos expected to hit the U.S. in coming years.

"Eventually, one of these Chinese car manufacturers is going to begin large-scale exports to the United States," Wyatt said. "Whoever it is, we've gotten to know them at this point. When they do, we want to talk to them."

BYD, which could be the nation's first introduction to Chinese-made autos, plans to open five test market sites worldwide, including in Israel, Denmark and Hong Kong. Though company executives have yet to finalize any decisions, Portland and Los Angeles are at the top of the list.

"We have to look at the market to see how people will respond first," said Henry Li, general manager of BYD's auto export trade division. "We're a newcomer. So we have to have a new strategy."