The car is the F3DM and it can drive up to 62 miles on electrical power alone before a small internal combustion engine takes over driving duties. Its battery can fully charge in nine hours from a regular electrical outlet, or much faster at BYD's own charging stations, reports The Detroit News.
On sale in China priced at 150,000 yuan ($22,000), BYD plans to sell the locally-built plug-in hybrid in the U.S. market by 2010. The move is backed by a $230 million investment from the world's richest man, Warren Buffett, and should help it overcome any development hitches presented by tough U.S. safety laws. The investment came from a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, of which Buffett is the majority shareholder.
According to BYD's exports general manager, the company is "talking to some third-party consulting and engineering companies to get a thorough understanding of the safety standards" in the U.S., which will be integral in the vehicle's success into breaking into the U.S. market.
BYD is predicting that initial sales of the car will top 500 units per month in China and will eventually reach 2,000 sales per month by next year.
Reader Comments
Tue Oct 28 2008 5:29 AM
shopa says
Dear Mr. Buffet
Many Americans want low cost, fuel efficient cars.
Kei cars are a special class of cars in Japan. They are limited to an engine size of 660cc and have vehicle size, but not weight, restrictions. They are made by many different Japanese car companies and they are mature designs that are reliable, and get up to 60 mpg. They can cost less than $10,000.
If these cars were converted to hybrids, they might get 100 mpg.
However, they can't be driven in the U.S. because they can't meet U.S. crash test requirements.
I believe that adding my crumple box invention to a Kei car will allow it to pass U.S. safety requirements. Then it could be driven in the U.S.
Some American auto companies have ties to Kei car manufacture. They could make these cars.
Please help me promote this idea.
See my website www.safersmallcars.com
Tue Dec 16 2008 9:17 AM
iluvamericancarz says
it looks like a 2003-2008 toyota corolla, the chinese are good at ripping off other cars, the bmw x5, mercedes benz, and gm daewoo matiz and magnus. also the fiat croma, and the chery tiggo looks like a series of japanese cuvs.
Tue Dec 16 2008 10:06 AM
Mike says
I would be okay with this if it wasn't simply a Chinese Corolla copy. Can't the Chinese do anything original? At least the Japanese started making cool, original cars after copying American cars for a little while. Is it that difficult to actually design something yourself, rather than simply tracing other peoples' work? I don't think the Chinese will get very far in America if they don't come up with their own designs.
Wed Dec 17 2008 8:20 AM
samuelesm says
I don't want lead infested cars in my country. Cars that break easily. Chinese are increative and rip offs. There are 15,000 LG rip-off laundry machines found in the East US that people thought were real LG stuff. Now they want to copy cars. They are really going to have a bad image. Then again half of their factories closed and that is why gas is cheaper and the (US) media doesn't say China is the #1 polluter when they used to nag America for being the #1 polluter. They put bad crap in our foods. I may sound biased but it is true.
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