BYD ready to supply batteries for Europe and North America
Click above for high-res gallery of the BYD F3DM
Chinese manufacturer BYD has announced talks to supply electric batteries for two European and one North American carmaker. These deals would surely maximize benefits from its proprietary lithium-ion batteries technology, which are made in Shenzhen, China. These batteries are already installed in the F3DM sedan that is currently sold exclusively to Government agencies, but which will be available for the general public next summer. Mr. Wang also stated that the company's ability to produce lithium-ion battery cells at relatively low cost, in part because of its choice of technology (iron-phosphate-based lithium-ion) and low labor costs, gives the company an advantage over other battery makers.
Gallery: Detroit 2009: BYD F6DM and F3DM
[Source: Gasgoo]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ohm 9:32AM (4/03/2009)
Do you have idea what "relatively low cost" really means? I mean, what would be the cost of a battery for a compact EV for automaker?
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Gordio 12:02PM (4/03/2009)
Well be assured b/c of where the city it's manufactured is. Shenzen is china's only capitalist city, and has the biggest growth of all of china (it's the first city next to Hong Kong). Their standards are ahead of the rest of the country. For example, scooters are illegal b/c they pollute the cities, etc.
jharlan 12:02PM (4/03/2009)
We got our ass kicked again. Who's responsible!!
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Dude 1:18PM (4/03/2009)
I wouldn't read too much into it yet, a lot of companies are in talks to supply batteries, it's not an easy process to qualify, even for the best of them. BYD's cell specs are nothing to brag about, as far as I've seen. It's going to be a huge market, still many years and lots of time for expansion.
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Rick 2:39PM (4/03/2009)
The US needs to stop dragging it's collective feet and get on the battery tech pronto before we replace oil dependency for battery dependency.
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Bill 9:38PM (4/04/2009)
BYD makes some incredible cost & performance claims for its batteries.
Wait until someone else confirms them.
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Jeff 2:50PM (4/05/2009)
Biggest concern (call it paranoia) is that big oil will be buying up patents soon. Exxon/Mobil ads on the TV depict them doing lithium battery "research". The conspiracy theorists anticipate E-M waiting until a milestone patent is able to lock down the rest of the industry. The more variety in battery chemistry, the better the odds that won't happen.
Remember the Toyota EV battery packs?
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Speculawyer 2:52PM (4/05/2009)
Well EV hobbyist conversion people certainly cannot buy BYD batteries at retail. Very few Li-Ions are available to EV conversion people other than Thunderskys and a few others that are not really at competitive prices.
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