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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , China , Tech Chinese battery manufacturer BYD can now be mentioned in the same breath as Goldman Sachs: both have recently been given the blue-chip imprimatur by U.S. billionaire investor Warren Buffet. The Oracle of Omaha's MidAmerican Energy Holdings has bought a 10-percent stake in BYD for $230 million. BYD has big plans for its lithium-ion battery work and its automotive division. The company's automaking arm builds - or clones , depending on your viewpoint - cars that it intends to eventually export around the world, including America. Its ultimate aim is create its own cars that run on its own batteries, like the e6 . Assuming that BYD gets the batteries to work, and then can sell them to other automakers, the company will have a huge competitive advantage. If it can sell its cars, that is. Buffett's investment will help BYD achieve that, and should help Buffett make even more money. BYD says another planned use of that $230 million is...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , China , Green , Chery As it currently stands, gas in China costs about half what it does in most other countries, and the government spends billions to keep it that way. This being the case, expensive hybrids like the Toyota Prius don't sell in very large numbers. Still, there are a number of analysts who predict that gas will go up in China and that cheaper hybrids could begin to get a foot-hold in the Chinese market. To test the hybrid waters, Chery has introduced its home market to a new inexpensive mild hybrid built off its own A5 platform. Like some of the hybrids from General Motors, the A5 adds a belt-driven starter/generator that runs on just 12 volts and allows for stop/start functionality for its 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine. Chery tested the vehicle during the Olympic games and is apparently now ready to begin selling its first hybrid to retail customers in China at about a third of the cost of the Prius. With pricing...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Minivans/MPVs , China , Green , Misc. Auto Shows When Auto China (a.k.a. the Beijing Motor Show) opens next week, BYD will pull the wraps off its e6, an EV crossover/MPV with a front end similar in appearance to the JDM Honda Odyssey . Unlike Honda's people-mover, the e6 runs exclusively on batteries. Its operating range is stated as being 300 km (186 miles) on a full charge. Said batteries, we're assuming they're lithium-ion (the translation from Autoblog Chinese is a little dodgy), can be charged via a 220V outlet. If a quick-charger is used (details of which are not yet available), 15 minutes gets the driver an 80% charge. A completely respectable zero-to-100 km/h (62 mpg) time of ten seconds is achievable, along with a maximum speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). The e6 battery pack lives under the rear seats, where BYD says provides they're well-protected in the event of a crash. BYD says that the e6 could go into production within two years...
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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , China , Green , Buick , GM Shanghai GM today introduced the first mainstream hybrid in China's upper-medium vehicle segment: the Buick LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid. The car is part of Shanghai GM's push to earn truly worthy green credentials -- the kind that surpass Chinese requirements and meet European standards. The LaCrosse is the first car to get the two-mode hybrid system for the Chinese market. With it the, the new car gets 28 mpg as opposed to the non-hybrid's 24. From next year until 2012, GM will offer 11 more increasingly fuel-efficient engines, including the E-Flex drive and the Fuel Cell E-Flex. For this year, Chinese customers will get new powerplants in the form of the 1.2-liter S-TEC, an HFV6 3.6-liter dual mode DI V6, and a mystery two-mode hybrid that will better its gas-powered cousin by 50-percent in fuel economy with no drop in performance. The LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid is the first hybrid in Buick's lineup, and will...
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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show , Hybrids/Alternative , Sedans/Saloons , China , Green BYD's Wang Chanfu and Jalopnik's Matt Hardigree say hi to the ALMS folks Jalopnik's Matt Hardigree was minding his own business, speaking to representatives of China's BYD Auto following the company's Detroit Auto Show presser yesterday. BYD had just unviled its F6 DM, a dual-mode hybrid sedan. Discussions turned to taking the car on a brief ceremonial "test drive" that involved moving it a few feet with Matt riding shotgun. As company reps sprang into action, the chairman himself got behind the wheel -- and then it got interesting. You see, what was supposed to be a few feet turned into a not-particularly-legal drive through the show floor. The photo you see above shows BYD Auto chairman Wang Chanfu driving Matt through the ALMS press conference that was in progress at the time. A full firsthand account is posted at Jalopnik, and it is hilarious. Read it here . [Source: Jalopnik...
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