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 than the $41,000 Chevy Volt.
More significant, the BYD e6 S will have a range of roughly 200 miles--perhaps more--from its 60-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. That's twice the Leaf's range, from a battery pack holding more than 2.5 times as much energy.
Twice as much power as in China
The BYD e6 is a five-seat crossover, rather in the same vein as the gasoline-engined Ford Edge. The e6 S model sold in the U.S. will be fitted with a far more powerful 160-kilowatt motor with more than twice the power of the home-market 75-kW motor.
BYD hopes to become the first Chinese carmaker to sell its vehicles in the challenging and competitive U.S. market. It has already placed a handful of test vehicles with the City of Los Angeles, sensible since it sited its U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles.
F3DM plug-in hybrid sedan too
BYD also plans to offer the F3DM plug-in hybrid in the U.S. next year as well. The car is an adaptation of the best-selling car in China, BYD's gasoline engined F3 sedan--more or less a cruder clone of a previous-generation Toyota Corolla.
While the F3DM was the first production plug-in hybrid sold anywhere in the world, starting in December 2008, its sales have been limited at best. It has been criticized by local press for crude transitions between power modes and marginal fit and finish.
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