BYD e6 all-electric car [video]

A short promotional video about the BYD e6 as used in the world’s largest all-electric vehicle Taxi fleet.

BYD Announces EV Fleet Results at Anniversary of Green-Taxi Project

Today marks the one year anniversary of the world’s largest all-electric vehicle Taxi fleet, manufactured by BYD. In conjunction with this anniversary, BYD announced results of several of its electric vehicle pilots – the F3DM, e6 and eBUS-12 which are in fleet testing across the world. Fifty of BYD’s e6, five-seat crossover vehicles, each with a range of over 160 miles (up to 300 Km) and a top speed of 88 mph (140km/h), have been in service at Shenzhen-based Pengcheng Electric Taxi Company since April 29, 2010.

The Shenzhen e6 Taxi fleet has now accumulated ~1,730,000 all-electric miles (or 2.77 million kilometers). The distance traveled for single fleet vehicles has reached ~63,000 miles each (>100,000 km). “This fleet of 50 e6 taxis has survived the very harsh operating conditions of hot Shenzhen summers and a very cold winter this year, and drivers and passengers alike have been extremely satisfied with their ride experience,” according to Stella Li, Senior Vice President. 250 more eTaxis are being delivered to the International University in Shenzhen before August this year. According to collected data, the per-car-fuel-savings is over $1167 per-Taxi-per-month (driving an average of 400Km per day). BYD’s all-electric Taxis are expected to help Shenzhen avoid about 133 lbs (or 60.4Kg) of carbon-dioxide pollution per day per Taxi. This is an equivalent of 2,425,060 lbs (or 1.1M kg) of carbon-dioxide pollution saved by this fleet in the first year.

The most important finding in the e6 fleet testing was that there has been no noticeable energy drop – both driving range and battery performance has been stable in rapid-charging conditions over the 1.73M miles tested – a breakthrough in EV rapid-charging. BYD has been challenged by the media about its claims of long-range electric vehicles and superior battery longevity in rapid-charging regimes since launching its first dual-mode, electric and plug-in-hybrid electric vehicles in December 2008. With the results of the e6 fleet, which was continuously rapid charged in 20- 30 minutes, BYD now has a proven track record for its Iron-Phosphate battery technology. The data is there to show vehicle charging efficiencies, consumption efficiencies, and EV ranges over time-- all with rapid-charging regimes.

BYD also reported on its F3DM fleet which BYD launched in its first US tests at the Housing Authority of Los Angeles (HACLA). The F3DM can travel over 40 miles all-electric but can be engaged to act as a Hybrid-Electric (HEV) to extend its range up to 300 miles. The HACLA fleet has now accumulated ~10,430 miles all-electric and 14,430 total miles (4,000 fuel-driven miles when extended range was necessary). The fleet is achieving an equivalent of 88 mpg and BYD estimates the per-car-savings---even netting out EV charging and electricity costs-- is ~70%. BYD’s dual-mode cars are expected to save HACLA about 37 lbs of carbon-dioxide per-day-per-auto when driven to the EV range.

In China, BYD launched an all-electric bus fleet with the eBUS-12 (click for video link) in Shenzhen and Changsha, China in January 2011. These fleets have already accumulated 28,802 all-electric miles (46,380 Km) while undergoing a 3-hour-charge of the 324 Kwh FE battery. An example of the per-eBUS-savings for Shenzhen’s Bus Line 202 (driving only 200Km per day) is about $2833 monthly per eBUS. 300 more buses will be delivered to Shenzhen in August of this year. BYD’s all-electric eBUSes save about 708 lbs (or 322Kg) in carbon-dioxide emissions per eBUS per day.

In total, BYD EVs have accumulated over 1.769 million all-electric miles and have seen no diminished range or capacity due to rapid-charging. BYD vehicles are estimated to have already saved $360,000 in fuel costs and over 2.776 million lbs of carbon-dioxide. BYD launched consumer sales of the F3DM in September 2010 and anticipates very good demand for the BYD e6 and all electric vehicles in China, fueled in part by government incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles. “Consumers that purchase pure electric vehicles will also enjoy the special privilege of "license-plate-lottery-free, no traffic restrictions and tax-free exemptions (paid by the government)."

BYD-Daimler’s First EV Design Completed, Prototyping Started

The 50:50 Joint Venture between BYD and Daimler Mercedes-Benz (called the Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Company Limited), announced at its first board meeting since receiving its business license from the Market Supervision Administration of Shenzhen (MSAS) that Mr. Ulrich Walker CEO of Daimler Northeast Asia Investment Co. Ltd, would be the Chairman of the Board of BYD-Daimler and that Mr. Yubo Lian Senior Vice President of BYD Co., Ltd and Chief Engineer of BYD’s auto business would be President and CEO.

The Joint Venture has made significant progress since cooperation began over a year ago – the design of the first BYD-Daimler electric vehicle (EV) model has been finalized and prototyping has been kicked off – a major milestone. Both parties will work on EV production preparations and team members from design, engineering, procurement, and quality management have all relocated to the BYD Shenzhen Headquarters.

From the outset of the collaboration, BYD and Daimler put special emphasis on high quality standards for design of the vehicle. The whole process of new vehicle design has been closely supervised by Mercedes-Benz Quality Management experts. This process has included creating a new international supply chain and the selection of the right combination of mold-makers and high-quality component suppliers. Cooperation with the World‘s leading suppliers plays an important role in safeguarding the new vehicle’s superior quality. The electric vehicle co-developed by the joint venture will capitalize on Daimler’s know-how in highly-reliable and safe electric vehicle architectures as well as combining BYD’s leading-edge, environmentally-friendly, Iron-Phosphate battery technology and electric drive systems. The vehicle will be marketed under the new brand jointly created and owned by Daimler and BYD.

Will China's BYD Bring the F3DM to the U.S. or will this be Just Another Broken Promise?

When it comes to making cars,China is king. We’re talking the world’s largest car market, with over a hundred individual marques. So why is it that there are virtually zero Chinese car manufactures selling cars in the U.S. aka the world’s other largest car market?

So far, China’s “Big Four” (well, the four most visible to those outside of China) have made and broken promises of bringing their vehicles to the North American market. Brilliance, Chery, Nanjing and Geely have all backed down from their plans to open dealerships and factories stateside. So far, not a single car from China's major automakers has touched down on U.S. soil outside a motor show.

Senior analyst Bill Visnic of Edmunds.com explains why: “This isn’t computers or cellphones, where you just get into a big-box store. You need some dealerships, and those things are tremendous investments of time and resources. [The Chinese] thought it was going to be a lot easier than it was.”

BYD hopes to change all that. China’s sixth largest automaker provided plug-in hybrid cars to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and now plans on bringing that hybrid, the awkwardly , named F3DM to the U.S.A. for Spring 2012. It still could be an uphill challenge, though.

The fallout from the slump in auto sales after the Global Financial Crisis, the government’s bailouts of two of the Big Three, the liquidation of numerous dealerships and the reduction in hybrid sales that came with the sudden drop in fuel prices is still being felt in much of America’s automotive heartland. Add to that the small market share commanded by hybrid and electric vehicles – just 2.2% worldwide according to JD Power – and BYD may be in over their heads already.

AS Mike Omotoso from JD Power explains:

“Because consumers are wary about electric vehicles and their driving range and batteries, they are even more likely to go with more established companies like G.M. and Nissan. The problem with the Chinese car companies is they are trying to run before they walk.”

BYD Exec Reveals U.S. Strategy [Video]

Warren Buffet-backed Chinese automaker BYD is looking to rebound from a rough 2010 in which company executives admit they may have gotten a little ahead of themselves.

In this video interview from WSJ’s Norihiko Shirouzu, BYD senior vice-president Stella Li talks about the company’s car sales in China and its strategy for selling electric cars in the U.S.

BYD Scrambles to Redesign Electric Car

Chinese battery and automobile producer BYD Co. is scrambling to make a last-minute design change to its all-electric battery car and is now aiming to make the car available to private buyers in California and possibly a few other "key U.S. states" by 2012 after test marketing the car in Southern California during the second half of this year, said company Chairman and founder Wang Chuanfu in an interview.

The redesign of the car—called the e6—even before it is launched in the U.S. comes as a result of BYD's decision to improve the car's rear seating area and means the U.S. test marketing and launch of the electric car would be delayed, in the end, by about a year.

The company was aiming to begin the test marketing in California during the second half of last year. The e6 debuted in China last March as taxis in Shenzhen.

The BYD e6 is an AWD minivan, that strikes a remarkable resemblance to the honda odyssey, that comes standard with a huge 60 kWh battery pack (larger than the Tesla Roadster) giving it close to 300 miles range, and will sell in the United States for $35,000 before incentives.

Source: WSJ