China, Meet Detroit: BYD F3DM @ NAIAS

MORE DETROIT AUTO SHOW COVERAGE:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/autoshows/detroit/2009/bydnews.html

Chinese automaker BYD Auto Company pitched its F3DM plug-in electric hybrid car to U.S. consumers on Monday at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show and said it plans to begin selling its vehicles here in 2011.

BYD also left the door open for building cars in the U.S. BYD Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu said in a statement that the company plans to establish manufacturing facilities in the U.S. "when it is appropriate."

Wang was backstopped at Monday's press event by David Sokol, chairman of MidAmerican Energy Holdings, the energy wing of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which last fall acquired a 10 percent stake in BYD Auto's parent company, BYD Company LTD.

"We are working with BYD on developing charging technologies and infrastructure that would help promote plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles," Sokol said. "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."

Last month, BYD kicked off sales of its plug-in electric hybrid car in China — at least a year ahead of competitors in the U.S. and Japan. The F3DM plugs into a standard outlet and comes with a small gas engine that can recharge the battery on the go.

The Wall Street Journal on Monday noted that "no startup has grown into a major automaker in at least half a century" and added that "it's still a bumpy road to a full-blown era of battery cars." But Wang told the Journal that "with electric vehicles, we're all at the same starting line."

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• China

[miracoy]

can't get any worse than a GM junk anyway - so what is there to lose?

[arabrockerman]

FACT:

White people flew more planes and more recently into buildings.

FACT: the first and last time that any arab rammed a plane was in 2001

FACT: White people kill more people in plane wrecks than arabs ever did.

War on Terrorism??? I thought you said you weren't in war? So your telling me your a lyer and a murder?

Your obviously the terrorist here you don't appoligize for killing inocent people and you try to decieve in order to kill inocent people.

[Papanoel76]

nice car...

[Mrasianpopmusic]

they gonna shut all your mouth up in 20 years, wait and see

[MrBS4]

@Charles2337

Err. Yeah, and these are the exact kind of people made Civic so popular.

[Charles2337]

"My car is made in China".

I can only see desperate teens and college grads buying these out of necessity.

[harrison28514]

@dencel22 China is mainly the manufacturer, blame the designer in terms of technical issues. In fact, major companies in North America design their products to have a shorter lifespan so the consumers will renew their purchases more often, but similar concept hasn't been brought to China yet. An example: a lenovo laptop may last for more than ten years, but I've never seen a HP last longer for more than 3 years.

[heartlessvietboy]

"The origin of the engine comes from the manufacturer."

- unknown

[dencel22]

They overtook Japan because they just copy every product made by other country, if Im not mistaken they have a spy in every factory in the world. You before a new product unveiled by a company they already have a copy of it, they just change a few things. Im I right

[dencel22]

Its a Chinese technology sure its not gonna last for sure, I had a very bad experience with chinese product. It look good but its not gonna last. Try buying a chinese made power tools or Electronics and see how long its gonna last, maybe just for a month. So Beware with Chinese made technology.