BYD e6
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Automaker BYD is by far China's most aggressive when it comes to electric cars. It launched its F3DM sedan, the world's first production plug-in hybrid, back in December 2008--sales have been poor--and has been testing its all-electric e6 crossover with both taxi fleets in Shenzhen, China, and the Housing Authority of Los Angeles. Encouraging data Now the results are in from a year's worth of the taxi tests, and BYD considers them encouraging. Fifty of the five-seat e6 compact crossovers were used in regular taxi service by Pengcheng Electric Taxi Company. The quoted range for the e6 is more...
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Reviewer Drives BYD E6: Verdict? "One Trick Pony"
Chinese automaker BYD, or "Build Your Dreams" has big plans. They had a strong presence at the recent 2011 Geneva Motor Show with a lineup of production electric cars both present and future, and the company intends to break into the U.S. market, never an easy task for a maker with little brand...
Antony Ingram -
BYD Lines up Electric Car Dealers for Late 2011 U.S. Launch
Chinese battery firm turned automaker hit the news a couple of times last week for all the wrong reasons. But less than a week after the firm was the center of a major auto scandal it has quietly started to prepare itself for a late 2011 U.S. Launch. So why is a company which previously been...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Build Your Dream, or Disaster? Wikileaks, Buffet & Electric Car Woes
An open policy of reverse engineering, doors that fall off and shady sales practices are hardly the things you’d expect of an automaker trying to make it into the U.S. market. But as newly surfaced diplomatic cables published on Internet whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks show, the battery firm...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
BYD-Daimler Electric Car Partnership Approved: Who Gets What?
Cooperation between automotive brands is hardly new, but on the face of it the latest joint automotive project between the owner of luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz and an upstart Chinese battery firm best known for missing its own deadlines isn't that obvious. Peel back the layers however and it...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2011 Detroit Auto Show: Electric Car Round-Up
Between the wreck of a Volvo and a $300k Mercedes supercar, the 2011 Detroit Auto show is giving the electric car fan plenty of variety, so if you're planning to visit the show between now and closing time on January 23, here are the electric vehicles you should make the time to see and the EV...
Antony Ingram -
Later today at the Detroit Auto Show, Chinese carmaker BYD will take the wraps off a new incarnation of the e6 crossover it's shown twice before. This time, however, it comes with an upgraded interior, a more powerful drive motor, and a price: $35,000 before incentives. The company hopes to offer its 2012 BYD e6 S (for 'Sport') for sale in selected U.S. markets toward the end of this year. $2,220 more than Leaf, twice the range The price of $35,000, first reported on Plug-In Cars, is just $2,220 more than a 2011 Nissan Leaf compact hatchback, which retails for $32,780, and considerably less...
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2011 Detroit Auto Show Preview: 2012 BYD e6 Electric Crossover, Plug-In Hybrid Sedans
Now that the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevy Volt have reached showrooms--a handful of them, anyhow--a new crop of electric vehicles will launch into the market for 2011. One of those may be the e6 all-electric crossover built by Chinese manufacturer BYD. Famed financier Warren Buffet was so...
John Voelcker -
Latest BYD Update: We're Still Coming Next Year, Really
Who needs soap operas when you’ve got the auto industry? One Chinese automaker is providing enough gossip, misdirection and sneaky dealings to keep script writers happy for years. Despite officially killing off its F3e electric car last week, Chinese battery firm turned electric vehicle...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Who Killed The Chinese Electric Car? BYD Looks Away from EVs
The F3e is officially dead. According to sources cited by China Business News, the battery firm turned electric-car maker has ceased plans for commercial production of its four door electric sedan. There has been little mention of the all-electric sedan since its plug-in hybrid sibling, the F3DM...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Is BYD About To Lose Investment From U.S. Billionaire?
Last week we wrote about the latest hurdles facing Chinese battery firm turned carmaker BYD. With multiple court battles, poor sales figures and still very few all-electric cars on the streets of China, we’ve seen the automaker revise its sales predictions and even delay a floating on the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
BYD Embroiled In Court Case, Puts Back Plans to Go Public
Build Your Dreams, one of China's largest battery and electric vehicle companies, has been telling us for months that it plans to bring affordable, competitive and safe electric vehicles to the U.S. market very soon. But as the months roll on, BYD's claim to get a car to market sooner rather than...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Having recently announced plans for its U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles, Chinese battery specialists and electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has now announced that it will establish its new European headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. The Shenzhen-based automaker is likely to build its latest facility near Frankfurt’s airport though the final destination won’t be known until later in the year. At its new offices, BYD--it stands for Build Your Dreams--will show not only its vehicles, but also its photovoltaic solar panels, battery energy-storage systems, and advanced light-emitting diode...
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Does BYD’s Ultimate Taxi Roadtest Hold Company’s Future?
What does a pizza delivery teen, a taxi driver and a courier have to do with EVs? Not much right now, but could these and other professional drivers hold the key to truly prove that EVs have what it takes to hit the big time, or do they risk condemning EVs to the history books forever? Chinese auto...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Daimler looks beyond Tesla with BYD electric-car partnership
Until Toyota stepped in last week, Daimler was the only major auto manufacturer to take a stake in electric-car startup Tesla Motors — a company that has now become synonymous with next-generation transportation. Now Daimler wants to work the same magic with BYD, the Chinese battery and electric...
John Voelcker -
Report: First BYD EVs In U.S. Going To Government Fleets
Chinese automaker and battery specialist BYD is accelerating plans to bring its first electric vehicles to the U.S. market, announcing plans for a new headquarters in Los Angeles and claiming that its E6 model already meets all local regulations and standards. However, before you get all excited...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
More Mixed Messages From BYD, Claims E6 is U.S. Safety Ready
Chinese battery firm and electric car company Build Your Dreams (BYD) have claimed their E6 all electric crossover SUV is ready for the U.S. market. Following tightly behind an announcement at the start of May that BYD were opening a U.S. sales headquarters in Los Angeles, BYD public relation...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Chinese Electric Carmaker BYD Loves LA Too, For U.S. Offices
While Chinese car company BYD exhibited its E6 all-electric crossover at the Detroit Auto Show last January, they've otherwise been fairly quite of late. Now comes word that the company has chosen downtown Los Angeles as the location for its U.S. headquarters. Friday, California governor Arnold...
John Voelcker -
Sometimes Twitter is pretty wonderful. Amidst all the fluff and links and LOLs, some real gems can land. We honestly don't recall who first alerted us to an article about Chinese electric-car maker BYD from Caixin Online, but we thank you. It's an excellent article, and highly worth reading top to bottom. With the delightful title of "How Manufacturing's Mockingbird Sings," the lengthy article lays out BYD's early history and its business plan for both its battery-cell and automobile arms. Focus, brazenness, precision It's simple: Copy, copy, copy. The article hones in on BYD's "focus...
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2010 Detroit Auto Show: Chinese BYD e6 Electric Crossover To Come To U.S.
Nearing the end of our 2010 Detroit Auto Show coverage brings us to a vehicle that got a lot of media attention, though it's unclear when it will actually arrive in the U.S. That's the BYD e6 electric crossover, which could become the first Chinese vehicle sold in the U.S. The crisply styled...
John Voelcker -
2010 Detroit Auto Show: The Confusing Wrongness of Electric Avenue
Only four electric vehicles really matter at the Detroit Auto Show: the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the 2012 Nissan Leaf, and the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, plus the current 2010 Tesla Roadster. They're on sale, or destined for volume production. The rest fall into two categories: low-volume...
John Voelcker