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EV WORLD EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE |
BYD is working on at least three electric-drive models, the largest being the F6DM due out possibly in 2009.
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Build Your Dream carmaker in China may just have claimed the title.
Open Access Article Originally Published: December 26, 2008
While Toyota confidently commanded the majority of hybrid car sales, with Ford and Honda trailing far behind, a virtually unknown car company in Shenzhen, China was quietly plotting a revolution, one that could in short order turn the automotive world on its head.
If their F3DM (dual mode) plug-in electric car lives up to its promise, BYD (Build Your Dream) will have solved the problem of how to cheaply build a high-power electric car battery pack. Installed in the company's F3 sedan and mated to a gasoline engine generator, hence the term 'dual mode', the F3DM is the first commercially mass produced range extended electric car. In 'electric-first' ™ driving mode, the four passenger car can travel 100 km (62 miles) before the gasoline engine turns to supply electricity to propel the car another 380 km (236 mi.) beyond the initial range of its still-secret battery pack, it it a total driving range of nearly 300 miles. Recharge time can be as little as 10 minutes. The car boasts two separate charging ports, one for common 110 household current, the second for quick-charging from high-voltage and amperage charging stations.
It is that pack, dubbed ETpower by the company, that is the heart of both the F3DM, the F3e -- an all-electric version -- and the future, larger F6DM model. The battery utilizes a proprietary iron ferrous (Fe) chemistry that "can deliver twice the voltage" of NiMH batteries, yet costs less than competing energy storage systems. According to BYD, the battery is thermally stable, contains no hazardous materials and should give long cycle life, as well as be temperature tolerant. It estimates the battery is good for some 2000 charging cycles or the equivalent of 600,000 miles, a claim that, if substantiated, will be the 'game changer' the electric car industry has been searching for for more than a century.
Installed in the F3e, the company claims the battery will allow the car to do 0-100km in 8 seconds and travel 300 km (186 miles). Beyond this scant amount of information, the company is -- quite reasonably, if frustratingly -- revealing little else about their technology.
Started in 1995, BYD is best known in China for making lithium batteries, cellphones, cameras and other components for the likes of Nokia, Motorola and Sony, gaining invaluable, high-quality manufacturing experience in the process. The company bought Qinchuan, a small state-owned car company five years ago and assigned some 500 engineers to work on developing electric car technology.
It was about this time a little known Polish professor named Antoni Szynmanowski was lecturing at Beijing's Technical University about hybrid vehicles. His scholarly tome on the subject had sold maybe a 1000 copies in Europe, he told me at the time. Translated into Chinese, it had sold 10,000 copies. Presumably, some of those copies and engineering graduates found their way to BYD.
BYD's F3DM just went on sale in China on December 15, 2008, nearly two years ahead of GM's competing Volt technology, and Toyota's own nascent plug-in hybrid efforts. Perhaps more disconcerting to its larger competitors, the car is being sold for less than $22,000, a fraction of what the Volt is likely to sell for when it hits the market in late 2010. How much the cost of the car, if any, is being subsidized by the government isn't known. When the Volt goes on sale, it will come with a $7,500 tax credit, courtesy of Congress. States like Oregon are also proposing additional tax incentives for plug-in cars. BYD expects to begin North American sales in 2011.
On September 29, 2008 MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a division of Berkshire Hathaway invested $230 million in BYD, taking approximately a 10 percent share in the company.
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17 comments so far...
26-Dec-2008
65305
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Bill,
2000 cycles for 600,000 miles doesn't sound right to me. If I fully charged my BYD vehicle every day for 365 days per year and drove it, I will have reached 2000 cycles in just 5.5 years. Given that most people drive up 15,000 miles per year, this equates to only 82,500 total miles driven.
What gives?
Posted by: bjd d
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26-Dec-2008
65306
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Let's see...
GM first released the EV1 in 1996 (12 years ago!). Then in 2003, they canceled the project and crushed the cars.
Now (2008), BYD is releasing a car, 2 years before the Volt, that has a longer range and costs half as much. And with a 2 year lead, BYD will already be improving upon these specs, before the Volt hits the streets.
What in the world could make the Big 3 executives believe they deserve multi-million dollar salaries (and a taxpayer bailout), when they deliver results like this? They should all be fired!
Posted by: HereAnd Now
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26-Dec-2008
65308
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BJD... the 600,000 number is what BYD states on their web site, which is why I question the assertion.
Posted by: Bill Moore
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26-Dec-2008
65309
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The article states a total driving range of 300 miles. With 2000 charge capability this yields
600,000 miles or 300 times 2000.
In any case, this is the future.
Posted by: John Boyd
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26-Dec-2008
65310
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It would cost the equivalent of 60 cents a gallon to charge and drive an electric car. The electricity to charge the car could come from solar or wind generated electricity. If all gasoline cars, trucks, and suv’s instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. Why don't we use some of the billions in bail out money to bail us out of our dependence on foreign oil?OPEC will continue to cut production until they achieve their desired 80-100 per barrel again. We are at their mercy. We really need to get on about the business of becoming energy independent. This past year and the record gas prices played a huge part in our economic meltdown and seriously damaged our economy and society.We keep planning to spend BILLIONS on bailouts and stimulus plans.Bail us out of our dependence on foreign oil. Make electric plug in car technology more affordable. I just read an amazing new book by Jeff Wilson called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence Now. www.themanhattnaprojectof2009.com Create cheap clean energy, create millions of badly needed green collar jobs. Put America back to work. It is a win-win situation. We have to become more proactive citizens, educate ourselves and demand our elected officials move this country forward into the era of energy independence. We need to stop talking about becoming energy independent and do everything in our power to make it happen. We need to use some of those bailout billions to invest in America becoming Energy Independent!
Posted by: sherry Jans
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27-Dec-2008
65315
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This is the first car that I have seen that would be truly economical, even considering the battery costs. It seems too good to be true, but if true, is a game changer. Sounds like it wouldn't take too much to expand this to be solely electrical with a minimum 200 mile range.
If this gets in the U.S., GM,Ford, and Chrysler are truly doomed.
Posted by: Tom Street
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27-Dec-2008
65316
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At 2000 charging cycles and 300 km per charge, that gives 600,000 km, not miles per battery life. Still a lot and a bit questionable.
Posted by: Peter Fynn
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27-Dec-2008
65318
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I wish I could believe in this vehicle, but I have traveled in the land of 'Too Good to Be True'. It's probably going to be a wake-up call. But not for who you think or for the reasons you think.
Posted by: David Park
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27-Dec-2008
65323
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Ah yes, the BYD F3DM...Initially I was very excited about this car. After all this was supposed to become the world's first mass produced practical and affordable plug-in hybrid, years ahead of the pack. But since than I noticed that some things about this car just don't add up. First of all it's rather peculiar that this ground braking vehicle isn't featured on their website (only the F3E is). As a consequence nobody seems to know anything about the capacity of it's batteries, or indeed the exact chemistry of it's batteries. "Mass produced"is a bit of an exaggeration if it's true that:"Henry Li, general manager of BYD Auto, predicts sales of a few hundred in the next 12 months."(source: Gasgoo). Okay, so maybe it's a bit expensive for the Chinese market, but it would be a riot on European markets where gas is heavily taxed and all sorts of fiscal benefits for hybrids are in place. Yet the latest news is that BYD has decided to delay exports (to the US at least, I assume that means Europe will be served even later) from 2010 to 2011. No further explanation. At this point I'm starting to believe that despite all the hype the BYD F3DM isn't quite ready for prime time yet.
Posted by: Chris O
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29-Dec-2008
65329
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BBC reported has tested the car, see
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7779261.stm
Posted by: Ming T.
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29-Dec-2008
65330
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If you fully charged your vehicle and drove it 365 days per year you would have driven
186 x 365 = 67,890 miles that year. Given 67,890 miles per year you would have burned 2,263 gallons of gas if you get 30 mpg. If gas were around $3 per gallon (the 5 year average and probably half what it will be in a few years) you would have spent $6,789 on gas. The electric to run this car would have cost you about 1,358. $5,431 in fuel cost savings if you drive the electric that year. This does not include the mainenance cost of all the tune ups and parts replaced the electric car no longer needs. We all know you don't drive 68,000 miles per year. The question is, why charge it every night if you have not depleted the charge? Charge it when it gets low, if the battery life is dependent on the number of charges. I'll let you know how it works out because as soon as the BYD hits the American market, I am going to buy one.
Posted by: Jim Brown
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29-Dec-2008
65331
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This is fantastic. We will soon be able to drive our very first plug-in hybrids. After so many years I feel like I was when I waited the delivery of my very first hybrid Prius, a very good car indeed for which Toyota can still be praised, but this time we will finally have the plug as well. I wish all the best to BYD and thank them for their perseverance in being first to build a mass-market plug-in car.
Posted by: Patrick Leonard
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10-Jan-2009
65492
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This has all the characteristics of "looks too good to be true".
I HOPE that the company is not up-selling their product. Price will be a major concern.
BTW, I think the F3DM shown looks HUGE because the person standing next to it is likely under 5 foot tall.
Posted by: jeff P
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31-Dec-2008
65359
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I hope that it's just a wide angle lens and the camera angle, but that car looks huge!
Don't get too excited about the price, it will go up substantially when they add all the required stuff for U.S. standards.
Posted by: Ben Wheeler
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01-Jan-2009
65369
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The real "Game Changer" for electric vehicles will come when some company invents and manufactures a new electric motor that does not require copper windings. The shortage of copper throughout the world is going to have a major impact on the ability of any automobile manufacturer to mass produce electric vehicles at an affordable price.
Electric motors can be made with aluminum, but they would be twice as large as copper motors, and they would not be durable enough for an automobile.
There has been some research on creating new conductors from carbon and other materials, but none are ready for production; and I don't think anyone knows when they will be ready.
The worldwide shortage of copper seems to be greatly overlooked by everyone in the Electric Vehicle World; but it is a challenge that must be met if we are to have large numbers of electric vehicles on the road.
Posted by: Bob Willis
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01-Jan-2009
65387
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I am cautiously optimistic. Until BYD makes it to the US market, this is just another vapor ware as far as this market is concerned today. However there are concrete signs showing this BYD plug-in has potential for success. The LiFePo4 technology BYD uses is very real and advanced. The key to success is contingent upon BYD's ability to make it cheaply at high volume and good quality. Based on BYD's current battery production capability, there is no reason to doubt BYD's ability to accomplish this goal. BYD's car production capability is not on par with their battery production capability. It is entirely possible that BYD's plan for business success rests upon selling the ET-Power technology to other car manufactures instead of mass production of the plug-in hybrid or pure electric cars on their own. There are just too many risks involved in making and selling the entire vehicle verses just making and selling the battery pack. The profit potential is much greater with the ET-Power pack alone.
Posted by: D TD
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13-Jan-2009
65510
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It won't be a "GAME CHANGER" until BYD can actually produce a road worthy automobile. These cars don't meet the standards for fit and finish, will never meet U.S. or European crash tests in this guise and they have a long way to go when it comes to undertstanding the automotive market. This is a company that gained their success making batteries. No doubt they have a little head start and infrastructural advantages when addressing the electric vehicle market. But they are so far behind in automotive know how that it is all negated. It wouldn't all be so bad if they actually realized their own deficiencies, but they don't. To make matters worse, they will not listen to those who could assist them. BYD is not a player, no matter the price.
Posted by: Bill Fisher
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