F3DM

Chinese auto giant BYD is one of the world’s leaders in the field of hybrid vehicles, having been the first in the market with a mass-produced plug-in hybrid back in 2009--albeit in China only--and now with several small fleets of plug-in hybrid models here in the U.S. These are small-scale tryouts of BYD's technology, with one fleet being used by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA). BYD claims the F3DM will do 62 miles on the power provided by a 15.6-kilowatt-hour lithium battery pack, with another 300 miles provided by a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder gasoline engine...