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BYD plans to sell hybrid vehicles in U.S. market next year
Shanghai. November 29 - BYD Auto Co. plans to start volume exports of its own-brand cars to U.S. and European markets in the second half of next year or early 2009, according to an Automotive News report.
The automaker says it will display plug-in hybrids and electric cars at the Detroit auto show in January. Both BYD and Chery have bold intentions to enter the United States. But the safety and emissions standards are stiff, and the automakers are small with inexperienced engineers and marketers.
BYD Auto, based in Shenzhen, has a history of brash predictions. For instance, BYD Auto has said it will be China’s biggest-selling automaker by 2015. But this year its sales will reach about 100,000, about one-half the production of one assembly plant in the United States.
The company sells gasoline-powered cars now but is targeting hybrids and battery-powered cars. Its parent company, BYD Co., is a leading rechargeable battery maker in the global market.
The company plans to produce a plug-in hybrid model in the second half of 2008 and bring purely electric-powered cars to market in 2009.
BYD Auto makes startling claims about its hybrids. The company says its first plug-in hybrid, the F6DM, will have a range of 267 miles (430 kilometers) on one tank of fuel, with a maximum speed of about 99 mph (160 kph). The car will be able to go 62 miles (100 kilometers) powered by batteries alone, the company says.
BYD Auto says that the battery pack can be recharged about 2,000 times, sufficient for seven to 10 years of operation. It needs nine hours for a full recharge by home power but only about 10 minutes for a 50 percent recharge with a special power station.
Xia says the F6DM may sell for about 200,000 yuan ($26,700).
The company hasn’t announced details about its planned electric cars. The company says its battery and hybrid cars are powered by a type of lithium-based battery called lithium iron phosphate.
A source at a company also working on batteries in China — and a competitor of BYD’s — said lithium iron phosphate batteries have various problems. They are heavy, costly and difficult to mass-produce with consistent quality.
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