Skip to Content

China's first plug-in hybrid, BYD's F3DM, goes on sale today



The first mass-produced plug-in hybrid from a Chinese company, the F3DM from BYD, goes on sale today. You can get it in China for the equivalent of $20,000 today, or wait until 2011 and buy one here in the US. The F3DM (the DM stands for "dual mode") uses a ferrous battery and can go 60 miles in electric-only mode. BYD expects to sell 10,000 units next year.

That all sounds very good, but BYD is new to building cars - the company's first model, the F3, went on sale in 2003 - and faces a lot of hurdles for public acceptance, at least outside of China. BYD (Build Your Dreams) does make more rechargeable batteries for things like cell phones and laptops than anyone else and investor Warren Buffett spent $230 million for an almost 10 percent stake in BYD a few months ago. These are signs that the company's goal to be the world's largest automaker has at least a little something to stand on, but Honda, for one, remains unimpressed. We'll be sure to keep an eye out for BYD's main floor presence at the Detroit Auto Show in a few weeks. Until then, check out pictures from previous BYD booths in the galleries below.



[Source: LA Times via EVWorld]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.



Featured Galleries

  • 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom
  • Smart ED production
  • Tesla Roadster audio recording for video games
  • Production i-MiEVs in the UK
  • Hyundai 2.4L direct injected Theta II
  • Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid bus
  • Chevy Volt hits the streets in Royal Oak
  • 2010 Nissan LEAF
  • 2010 Mercedes-Benz ML450 hybrid
  • Renault Fluence ZE concept
  • Governor Schwarzenegger with the Zero S
  • Peugeot Concept HYbrid3 Evolution

Categories


Autoblog

Daily Finance

Download Squad

Engadget

Joystiq

Autoblog Spanish

Switched.com

FanHouse

Asylum