If the Wall Street Journal is anything to go by, Chinese automaker BYD may be looking to release an all electric vehicle in the US as early as next year. This goes against the company’s previous claims that America would be seeing an all electric vehicle in 2011.

The vehicle in question is the e6 five-seat crossover that will reportedly sell for around $40,000 and sprint from 0-62 mph in 10 seconds and reach a speed of 99mph all while maintaining a range of 186 miles.

There’s not telling if we will be seeing this car hit dealerships across the nation or just a limited launch. We’ll keep you posted.

via autoblog

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If you weren’t aware, the US isn’t the only one moving towards a greener future in terms of automobiles. China, especially, with their extremely large population and extremely high pollution level needs to get their move on and introduce some fuel efficient cars.

The country may be doing just that as BYD has recently stricken a deal with a major Chinese automaker to supply them with automobile batteries. Autoblog reports that these batteries will be good for up to 2,000 charges meaning they could theoretically power a car 375,000 miles throughout their lifetime.

We’ll keep you posted as more news on these batteries, and the cars they will be used in, is made known.

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The Chinese have been known to copy certain products and vehicles are no exception. In fact you may be surprised to note that they have cloned the previous generation Lexus RX350. The S6 has a different grille and revised headlamps/tail lights but its design shamelessly copies that of the RX350.

But what makes this story even more intriguing and apparently quite frustrating for Toyota / Lexus officials, is that believe it or not, we discovered that BYD Auto has actually succeeded in patenting the S6’s design at the European trademark office.

It is scheduled to go on sale in China later on in the year. It makes you wonder how Toyota and Lexus feels about this cloning incident.

(Source) Car Scoop

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Since we’re used to hearing how people cross the Mexican border in hope of something better, we shouldn’t be surprised if that’s the same border Chinese cars will pass soon. Chinese cars will probably head to the U.S. from Mexico in about 5 years or so. Chinese manufacturers will begin production in Mexico in 2010 while sales in the United States are expected for 2015.

How do you like the prospect of buying a Chinese car made in Mexico from Walmart? We’re not saying they will be bad cars but they might sell for less. Aren’t you curios what cars are we talking about? So are we! Are they FAWs? BYDs?

via Gasgoo

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Chinese BYD Hybrid

China’s BYD Auto announced at the Detroit Auto Show this week that it plans to offer high-end hybrid cars to the United States market by 2011. Avoiding budget cars entirely, BYD will offer a plug in electric hybrid mid-sized sedan and also a plug in hybrid van, both of which will come with an MSRP of between $30,000 and $40,000. The biggest challenge in getting the vehicles to the U.S. market will be the strict U.S. safety and emissions tests, which the Chinese vehicles have not yet been able to pass. A second challenge is that no U.S. dealership network yet exists for Chinese cars. Some industry analysts question whether the battery technology—which the Chinese claim is cutting edge lithium ion—really even exists yet.

The Chinese are known for making premature announcements of product innovation, just as a kind of a warning shot to the west. Should BYD actually make it to the U.S. market, it is likely they will also have to deal with negative U.S. perceptions of Chinese made goods. So far, the Chinese are not initiating or participating in that discussion.

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Electric vehicle development seems to be one of the themes at the North American International Show and China is not about to allow itself to be left behind. While everyone is focusing on the much expected Toyota Prius, Shenzen-based company BYD is getting ready to unravel its own electric vehicle; the F3DM.

BYD, which stands for “Build Your Dream” offers a simpler way to charge up the vehicle. It can be plugged in to any wall socket. However, it takes 9 hours to charge which may be the only chink in this China-based model.

The car has a gasoline engine that kicks in when a driver accelerates to more than 37 mph; up to that point, it runs completely on electricity.

(Source) NPR

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