Will BYD Be Able To Deliver?

Fresh off of its first ever main showroom floor appearance at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, the BYD Automotive Company has high hopes in its bid to sell cars in the American marketplace. The Chinese company, who goes under the tag line Build Your Dreams, expects to sell both pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars through its yet to be formed U.S. dealer network.

According to BYD, their future line up will include the F3DM, what the company says is the world’s first mass-produced plug-in hybrid sedan, and the battery-powered e6, a mid-size five-passenger crossover vehicle with a range of up to 250 miles on a single charge.

Speaking from the floor of the North American International Auto Show at Detroit’s Cobo Center, BYD Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu also said the company plans to set up manufacturing facilities in the U.S. “when it is appropriate.”

In house battery technology, known as the Fe battery will power BYD vehicles.  BYD asserts that the Fe battery is extremely safe, environmentally friendly and affordable. It can be quick-charged to 50% of capacity in only 10 minutes, and will have a life cycle of more than 10 years.

Right now, the Fe battery is used in the e6 electric crossover vehicle, as well as BYD’s new Dual Mode family of plug-in hybrid vehicles, including the compact F3DM sedan and the mid-size F6DM sedan, which can run in either pure-electric or hybrid-electric mode.

At the Detroit conference, Wang was joined by David Sokol, chairman of MidAmerican Energy Holdings, the energy wing of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which last fall acquired a 10% stake in BYD Auto’s parent company, BYD Company Ltd.

Sokol said, “We are working with BYD on developing charging technologies and infrastructure that would help promote plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles. For the electric-vehicle market to mature, the underlying charging infrastructure and technologies must mature at least simultaneously, if not first. Perhaps like no other corporate entity in the world, we are in a position to help make that happen.”

Sokol, who is a member of BYD’s board of directors, also said MidAmerican Energy Holdings is working with BYD on demonstration projects that will allow the partners to store energy from such renewable sources as wind and solar, to be deployed into the grid when needed.

Source: BYD Auto