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BYD F3DM Electric Hybrid
There is a company in China that is now producing an electric car. The BYD F3DM went on sale December 15, 2008 in China. The car uses a lithium iron phosphate rechargeable battery that can be recharged to 50 percent capacity in as little as 10 minutes (at a special recharging station). The car will travel over 60 miles on a charge before the gasoline engine will be needed to supply electric power to keep the car running. The car can be recharged from a home outlet in about 9 hours. From reviewing their specs, the car functions a lot like a Prius with a home-rechargeable battery. The car sells for about $22,000 in China.
The F3DM uses an electric drive with a supplemental gas engine powered mechanical assist. The cars best performance is produced when both the electrical and gasoline engine are driving the car. The car can operate on electric power only, but performance and speed will limit you to slow city driving. The car can also operate only on the gasoline engine when the battery power is exhausted.
So who is this Chinese company BYD that is making this car? The company is based in Shenzhem, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China. They are about 14 years old and in that time have become the world’s largest maker of lithium rechargeable batteries for cell phones and lap-top computers. They have been producing cars since 2003 and sold 180,000 cars in China last year. This year they expect to sell 380,000 cars in 2009.
BYD is also planning on introducing an all-electric car, the e6, with a range of 265 miles in 2009. They plan on launching this new all-electric car in Europe in 2010 and bringing the car to the US in 2011.
Many people have been expecting the Chinese to start entering the US car market. Would you expect then to enter our market with very low priced cars with questionable performance and quality? It may be that companies like BYD enter our market with high quality – advanced electric and electric hybrid cars at very affordable prices.
American automakers are at a crossroads; not only because of the pending reorganizations in bankruptcy, but because car technology is changing very rapidly. This is a great opportunity for American automakers to get back into the game. American automakers are going to need to invest big in new technologies to be competitive in the cars markets of the future. Cars like the Chevy Volt have the electric hybrid technology, but this type of technology will need to be quickly employed in all models. I am expecting that oil prices will eventually rise again, maybe higher than before. Electric cars (and alternate fuel cars) may be the only way for car companies to survive in the long term.
The batteries in the car seem to be the critical component in making an electric or electric hybrid car successful. Who would then be better at building an electric car? An auto company that buys its batteries from a foreign supplier or a world leading battery producer that also makes cars? GM is buying the battery for its Volt from Korean company LG. Should we be developing this key battery technology in this country? Could we even produce these batteries at a competitive price in this country?
The new technology in electric and electric hybrid car technology will create an inflection point for auto companies. Every auto company in the world will have to compete in this new technology if they want to survive. I hope that after GM and Chrysler go through their restructuring, they will be unimpeded by legacy debts and other obligations and can focus on designing and building new cars for our carbon constrained world. Maybe they can even find an export market for these new cars and become tomorrow’s world leaders in car production and sales. Take note though: the competition is going to be tough.
I actually like the all-electric drive technology used in the Chevy Volt. I think that this technology will dominate over time as the cost of the electrical components fall faster then the hybrid cars (like the Prius and F3DM) which use a combination of electric and mechanical drive. In the Chevy Volt, the gasoline engine drives a generator which is used to recharge the battery. The battery alone drives the wheels. The initial cost is now higher because you need a bigger battery to drive the car at highway speeds.
Is BYD for real? They were displaying their electric hybrid car at the Detroit auto show in January 2009. Warren Buffet has taken a 10% stake in the company and may help them set up distribution for their car in this country. He stated that he wanted to buy more of the company but they didn’t need the money and didn’t want to dilute existing shareholders. Yes, I think they are very real.
From their Press Release:
The BYD F3DM Dual Mode electric vehicle is based on the standard gasoline model BYD F3, which is one of China's best-selling cars. The DM designation stands for Dual Mode, which indicates the vehicle can run on either pure battery power or a combination of gasoline and electricity.
The F3DM extends the range, performance and fuel economy of the F3. The F3DM features a small gasoline engine, a permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor and BYD's high-efficiency Fe battery pack.
The 1.0-liter gasoline engine and electric motor deliver a combined 168hp (125kw) and 295 lb-ft (400Nm) of torque. The combined range is 360miles (580km), with 0-60 mph acceleration in 10.5 seconds and a top speed of 93mph (150km/h). On battery power alone, the F3DM has a range of 62 miles (100km).
The F3DM's Fe battery pack can be quick-charged to 50 percent of its capacity in only 10 minutes. It can be fully recharged from a normal household power outlet in seven hours.
BYD's Dual Mode (DM) electric vehicles combine a pure-electric mode with a hybrid drive system that incorporates a small gasoline engine. The Dual Mode (DM) electric vehicle system integrates an advanced generator and motor controller, which results in lower fuel consumption and emissions, as well as higher power and performance.
