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Chinese Automaker Unveils First Electric Car
JuliusSu writes "A Chinese auto manufacturer, BYD, is introducing today the country's first electric car, a plug-in hybrid vehicle. It plans to sell at least 10,000 cars in 2009 for a price of less than $22,000. This put the company ahead of schedule against other entrants to this market, such as Toyota, due to release a similar car in late 2009; and GM, whose Chevy Volt will be launched in late 2010. The company is best known for making cellphone batteries, and hopes its expertise in ferrous battery technology will allow it to leapfrog established car manufacturers."
[The VOLT was promoted using jazzy images of impressive body lines that promoted interest, only to release a breadbox as the final design. GM doesn't want the VOLT to succeed...]
Here we go again...
The original design was so un-aerodynamic that Bob Lutz said it was almost better if they put the car in the wind tunnel backward. That's why it was changed.
Last I had heard they were tiered. Standard 110v was like 12 hour recharge, 220v (like water heater or dryer) was like 4 hour and a nonstandard 440v could do in 1-2 hours.
Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
Your entire proof that Buffet has any interest in this venture is a story on Slashdot. That makes you the idiot.
Curiously, I do not share your sentiment about the other poster.
I am, however, fairly confident that you are an imbecile.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
It is hybrid, it has a backup gasoline engine.
It's not really new, but it's better than all electric like the Tesla. It may be fast, but as it has been shown in the latest episode of Top Gear, it has a major drawback, recharging time.
Seeing the hydrogen-powered Honda FCX Clarity in that same episode showed how it can be done practically. Fill up like a gasoline car, be done in two minutes and drive on.
For those that haven't seen it, info and torrent link here.
home
Actually no. There is a LOT of stuff in cars of all brands that is actually made in the U.S. There is also a lot made in other countries. But from what I've seen - working in Detroit for a long time - is that China is not the largest contributor of parts. Go ahead and argue that some Ford cars are assembled in Mexico, while some Toyotas are built in Alabama (not sure that's the right state) but China is not involved in the same way they are with toys for example. I know it's popular to bash Detroit, but this dumping on them with unfounded gibberish is really getting old. When there are 20+ vehicle manufacturers in the US, it's impressive that the 3 still hold as much market share as they do. Someone must be buying the vehicles.
I was told wiring in the column. The dealer fixed it for free even though the warranty had expired. IIRC they referred to it as an 'after warranty adjustment'. (and I made a typo, it was a 1989 Grand Prix not 1986)
What's so hard about supporting an electric car?
Quite a bit, if you think about it:
1) Educating and qualifying mechanics to work on the car. Your average Joe at the gas station isn't going to be able to service this thing right off the bat, nor will he be able to open the hood and figure it out after a few minutes' inspection. At least for the first two or three years this car is on the market, you'll be forced to rely on dealer service, simply because there won't be trained mechanics anywhere else. And if you break down someplace where there isn't a dealer handy, you're hosed. A hobbyist owner might be able to repair the car, to a greater or lesser extent, but those repairs might void the warranty, or in some states may disqualify the car from street service entirely.
2) Availability of parts. There is lots and lots more that goes into an electric car, or indeed any car, besides a few hundred feet of wire, an electric motor and a few batteries. If your alternator dies, if you have to replace a transmission or some other drivetrain component, if your windshield cracks, all of those require many more parts to complete beyond the obvious part that's malfunctioning. The problem is compounded if you have multiple systems damaged at once, as in the context of an accident. You'll have to have some mechanism in place to get those parts from their Chinese manufacturers to a U.S. dealer service department, quickly and efficiently. (This is harder than it sounds; as a personal example, I can confirm that for a certain well-known German luxury manufacturer, a replacement front bumper fascia took three weeks to ship from Stuttgart, where replacing the same part on an American vehicle took two days.)
On a related note, you also have to worry about the general lack of infrastructure. Right or wrong, as it stands right now the entire transportation infrastructure in the US is set up to deal with internal combustion vehicles. Changing over to an electric infrastructure is going to take time, at least two or three years and probably more like five or seven, during which time the drivers of electric vehicles are going to be at a major disadvantage. You won't be able to charge most places, won't be able to get service most places, might not be able to drive on freeways or other limited access roads (at least here, freeways are restricted to internal combustion vehicles with engines greater than 125 CC displacement, which can't be powered farm equipment, and must be able to maintain a minimum speed of 55 MPH). Those restrictions might be enough to put people off electrics entirely, or at the very least slow their adoption. It'd be a damned shame if that happened, but it's a very real risk. In the meanwhile, everyone who bought these electric cars will be in the lurch, and if the manufacturer folds, the vehicles will be little more than hobby pieces.
First rule of trauma: Bleeding always stops.
Deathtrap? I think after watching these videos, most people will agree you are being a bit generous.
http://www.break.com/index/failed-chinese-crash-test.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZWy_fASSiQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVwmuQqN46g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEeqxq7EtQU
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/22/brilliance-bs6s-adac-crash-test-is-anything-but/
http://www.leftlanenews.com/chinese-sedan-flunks-german-crash-test-with-video.html
Of course they have plants in China! They make cars in China for the Chinese...
http://www.pointoflaw.com/articles/The_Myth_of_the_Ford_Pinto_Case.pdf
Slashdot is proof that Sturgeon's Law applies to mankind.