Will the long-delayed BYD e6 finally reach the American market in 2012?
After a series of delays, Chinese automaker BYD is finally getting ready for its formal U.S. retail launch, company officials declared during a news conference at the Detroit Auto Show.
And the truly green-minded motorist will find more than just the e6 battery car and F3DM hybrid once the first in a planned network of regional showrooms open up in early 2012, they proclaimed. BYD – which stands for “Build Your Dreams” — wants those outlets to be something of an environmentally-friendly superstore, offering not only battery cars but the solar generation system that can provide power and even LED light bulbs to cut the energy needs of a motorists’ home.
“Our vision is not just cars,” explained Chuan-fu Wang, BYD’s founder and chairman, speaking through an interpreter. The goal is to provide, “a truly zero-emission solution, not just for transferring emissions” from the tailpipe to the smokestack.
BYD Chairman Chuan-fu Wang's "three green dreams" are to sell you a battery car, a solar charging system -- and LED light bulbs.
That is something critics of battery cars have often complained about, contending that the technology simply shifts to a reliance on electric utilities rather than the internal combustion engine.
BYD’s interest in all things electric is not surprising. The company actually started out producing a version of lithium-ion batteries and is now the leading supplier of that storage technology for global cellphone and laptop computer manufacturers.
It has expanded into solar cells and also produces the large-scale battery storage systems that can be used to capture the excess energy a utility produces at night to help supplement the demands of the grid during peak daylight hours.
Wang’s “three green dream” approach may leave some potential customers scratching their heads, of course – and the company’s cautious roll out will limit access to the American market, anyway. And that’s if it meets its downsized target for becoming the first Chinese maker to reach the U.S.
While company officials waffle, most observers agree BYD is at least a year least – even if Michael Austin, president of BYD America, can claim the maker has already reached market by placing a few battery cars into a test fleet for the Los Angeles public housing authority.
In terms of retail sales, a first-quarter 2012 launch, at earliest, seems likely. That will bring the e6, a modest-sized battery sedan and the F3DM plug-in hybrid. The former uses a proprietary, iron-based version of lithium-ion technology and is expected to get up to around 100 miles per charge. A second, “Sport” version, due to follow, will be able to get a reasonably peppy 0 to 60 launch of under 8 seconds, the company claims.
Yet another model, the plug-in S6DM SUV, is expected to follow in 2013, according to Ausin, who says it will deliver about 38 miles on battery power alone, then switch to a 2.0-liter internal combustion engine for longer trips.
BYD’s initial appeal could be a very different form of green. The F3DM is available in China for as little as $10,800 after various government subsidies. In the U.S., tax incentives should drop it down to the low to mid-$20,000 range.
As to target volumes, Austin suggests initial expectations are modest. In fact, “BYD’s not in a rush to come to the U.S.” Before it gets here, he insists, “We want to get it right.
Observers say that’s a good attitude, if it’s not just an excuse. The Chinese could rapidly tarnish their image if their cars have the same sort of quality problems other goods from the Asian nation have suffered. And, indeed, BYD has had a number of issues back home, where it had to recall a sizable portion of its first batch of plug-in hybrids.
The company has had other problems, as TheDetroitBureau.com previously reported. It had a run-in with government officials, last year, and was forced to give up seven plants it allegedly built illegally. Home market sales have fallen well below expectations, profits plunging and its stock price falling precipitously. That convinced Warren Buffett, the legendary investment wizard, to reduce his one-time 10% share in BYD.
The maker has been promising to come to the U.S. for a number of years. This time, BYD’s Wang insists the company is serious. But if and when it does, don’t expect a big burst of activity. The company will take a cautious approach to ensure its arrival isn’t followed by a hasty retreat.