The world’s first mass-produced plug-in hybrid is now on sale in China. BYD Co. (1211.HK), the Chinese automaker backed by Warren Buffet, beat to market Japanese and American heavyweights like Toyota (NYSE: TM) and General Motors (NYSE: GM).
BYD’s F3 DM vehicle reportedly can travel 62 miles on battery power alone and has a back-up gasoline engine. Fully charging the battery takes seven hours, BYD said, though a specialty charging station can provide a 50% charge in about 10 minutes.
The vehicle costs 149,800 yuan (US$22,000), according to a Bloomberg report. BYD founder and Chairman Wang Chuanfu said the Chinese government is considering subsidizing the vehicles to cut prices for Chinese consumers.
BYD expects to achieve total sales of 350,000 next year up from an expected 180,000 this year, Wang told reporters in Shenzhen today.
By comparison, Toyota said in August that it will begin testing plug-in vehicles in late 2009, and General Motors is hoping to release it’s Chevy Volt plug-in in 2010.
In addition to selling several gasoline-powered vehicles, BYD is also China’s largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries. The company announced at the end of October that it has secured 10 European distributors for the F3 DM, which it hopes to introduce there in 2010.
BYD will begin selling the vehicle in the U.S. in 2011, Wang said–earlier if necessary regulatory steps can be completed.
Loading...
Finally, now if we (the US) can speed up our process, we could have a plug in hybrid available sooner rather than later.