China’s BYD Auto accepted Warren Buffet’s invitation to display its electric cars in the United States in May. Buffet will hold a general meeting of shareholders in Omaha, Neb on May 2. BYD is China’s leading company in electric car manufacturing. BYD president Wang Chuanfu will be demonstrating F3DM or E6 model to the shareholders in the meeting. Warren Buffet bought 10 percent of BYD stake with 1.8 billion Hong Kong dollars last September, which was his first investment in a Chinese company.
BYD’s innovative battery, used in its dual mode cars, can fully charge in nine hours from a regular electrical outlet, or much faster at charging stations. The E6 can travel up to over 402 km purely on battery, more than double the range of the western models on a single charge.
F3DM, China’s first mass-produced plug-in hybrid, went on sale in China last December. It was at least a year ahead of General Motors’ anticipated Volt. So far, only the U.S. auto giant and Toyota have announced plans to launch plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2010.
F3DM is currently only sold to government agencies and corporations, but the company will start nation wide sales promotions in June 2009. It’s a fair prediction that the Chinese electric cars will soon find its way into the US market.
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