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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."
This should be good, lol.
You are all a bunch of idots.
This is a little OT but I figure someone here might know. With so many electric cars finally coming to market I thought it would be smart to plan ahead even if I'm not ready to take the leap yet...
So, I'm in the process of a remodel and have an easy opportunity to install a high-amperage electric circuit to some location in the garage. Is there any emerging standard for charging electric cars that would dictate the ideal location to put the outlet? I.e. in front of the car, driver side, passenger side, what height from ground, etc. Also amperage, type of plug etc would be good to anticipate, although initially I'd just have an empty conduit running there from the load center.
I kinda doubt Warren Buffett would invest in vaporware....
Detroit wasn't interested...someone had to get on with it.
GM killed electric trolley public transportation on the East Coast decades ago, pushing for city buses made by GMC that used internal combustion. 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, and now with their imminent demise, they may get their wish.
BYD will be in NA in short time, and more like them will follow. I wish them best of luck.
A hybrid or an electric? GM, Honda, and Toyota hav all produced hybrids. Tesla produces an impressive electric car. What is new here except that *this* Chinese manufacturer is producing *this* car?
If your only tool is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail.
Well that was a complete non-sequitur and kinda rude. My point was that Warren Buffet (one of the richest men in the world) has made his fortune by investing in companies that actually turn a profit as opposed to typical speculation. Because of his past success and a 10% stake, there's a chance that the Chinese car is not vaporware.
Now your comment implies that I am somehow responsible for the current financial crisis either because I make speculative investments or take out/issue bad loans, perhaps based on what Warren Buffet does. Those implications aren't true, nor do they have any bearing on the comment I made. So, I can only assume you're trolling for easy mod points.
You should stop because it only makes you look like an idiot.
About the only thing that is truely american is the arrogance.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
I avoid any products made in China now because I can't trust them anymore. How much food is recalled and childrens toys? Do you want to be in an accident in one of these things and then find out that to cut costs, they used cheap air-bags?
Another reason to avoid Chinese goods (if their human rights record isn't good enough) is that their industry is ecologically harmful. Chinese industry have little incentive not to polute the environment in some of the most egregious ways.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
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?
Does this mean it's reliable?
No, it doesn't exist yet.
Is it made of Melamine like all their food?
You're planning on eating the thing? Interesting.
I avoid any products made in China now because I can't trust them anymore.
Don't eat random products made anywhere.
How much food is recalled and childrens toys?
Boy, you're really hungry, aren't you? Shouldn't eat toys.
Do you want to be in an accident in one of these things and then find out that to cut costs, they used cheap air-bags?
No, I don't want to be in an accident in anything small. I want to be in an accident in my 3/4 ton 4WD pickup.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
All you have to do is make the back wheels bigger than the front and you are always going down hill. This should improve mileage by quite a bit but be careful, if the size ratio gets too big it is almost impossible to stop.
while(1){sig.get()}
I drove one of these but two hours later I felt hungry again and had to drive it some more.
120 characters isn't enough to explain it.
Everyone seems to forget or willfully ignore that Toyota also filed similar lawsuits against states trying to impose stricter emission guidelines.
"People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
Part of the problem is that it would be rather expensive to engineer a car to meet 50 different emission standards. Nobody, except the state's showing their control, wants that.
So why not make it meet the strictest standards? Partly because it just keeps pushing the costs higher for stuff nobody needs in the other 49 states. There is also nothing that suggests there would be one "strictest" standard.
California was allowed to set requirements that no other state had for quite a while. In the beginning it required reworking and adjusting a car that was imported into California before it could be sold there. So you would see cars selling for $3,000 to $5,000 higher in California. Should you be so silly as to buy a car in Arizona when you were a California resident you would be faced with paying that extra amount to have the car modified before it could be licensed. So in a way, we have tried this already and it was a disaster. It might have helped out air quality in California or it might not have. Nobody really knows.
I'd say the biggest problem would be conflicting requirements between states. If this was allowed, and so far the Federal Government hasn't made it clear that such state level regulation would never be allowed, you would have a different set of hardware for each state for each car. Sure, California could have their regulations but there would be nothing to prevent Nevada from having different and mutually exclusive requirements.
The only sensible way is to have one Federal standard. It works for car owners, it works for car manufacturers and it can work for everyone else as well. The problem seems to be enacting some realistic legislation at the Federal level.
Also, it isn't going to help if some states are allowed to regulate batteries for electric and hybrid cars. Not long ago California prevented sales of cars with lots and lots of lead-acid batteries in them because of the hazards of both lead and acid. I do not know what the state of things are today, but there are plenty of people doing electric car conversions using lead-acid batteries. I suspect it is not legal to buy, sell, modify or license such a car today in California. There is no reason to think that other states will be any more forgiving about toxic pollutants if each state is allowed to pass their own regulations.
A big challenge to any new player getting into the electro-auto market is dealer support. Where is someone supposed to get parts for this thing or a Tesla? Sure, an electric vehicle design should require less maintenance, but even components will need to be replaced due to accidents and road wear.
I've heard people say the auto bailout money should go to a start-up like Tesla. The problem with completely abandoning the American automakers and putting public funds behind a startup is that the big three already have huge infrastructure in place. They already understand production. Bless the hearts of those Tesla idealists, but they're going to spend a BUNCH of money developing dealerships, parts distribution, training mechanics & sales people. And until their production numbers get big, the deals they'll cut with suppliers won't be as profitable as the ones Ford/GM/Chrysler make with their suppliers thanks to the economies of scale they're working in.
I'm not saying there isn't a place for smaller companies to come in and fill a niche demand. But now isn't the time to abandon the American auto companies and watch them perish. If that happens, Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai will assist in a huge transfer of wealth overseas.
Seth
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
It seems to me that this highlights the difference between an economy based on greed - "It's OK, we can continue to stifle innovation and rake in the profits", to one based on need - "We have the largest population and a fast growing economy (and associated emissions pollution), how do we meet both those challenges AND make a profit on the way?"
I have yet to see a serious, insightful post about this story. A little googling turned up pics and data although I confess that I don't know what
16 kwh / 100 KM works out to in MPG.
The pictures I saw of the car look pretty nice. Congrats to the Chinese - if this turns out to be a quality vehicle, it may force the Big Three stragglers to dump some of their guzzlers and give
us clean, efficient vehicles we can depend on
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/xebra-sedan
For the fully electric version.
It's been available in the states for 2 years now.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
When the first Japanese cars showed up in Europe in the 1970s, they were cheap but had a terrible reputation. That has changed. Today they are on the same quality level (and almost as expensive) as European cars. Toyota even ruled the reliability/breakdown statistics for years, only recently some European models have retaken the lead.
I expect that the same will happen with the Chinese cars. They may have not much experience in car making now, but 10 years from now things can look different.
C - the footgun of programming languages
A kWh is a measure of energy, and a gallon (US) of regular gasoline (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrol#Density) contains about 9.67 kWh of energy. 15 kWh is roughly 1.55 US gallons. 100 km is roughly 62.1 miles.
The mileage 15 kWh / 100 km is equivalent to about 64.5 miles per US gallon.
I hope I got that right.
Speaking from a point of view that can see the GM world headquarters from my apartment, I'd like to think that GM has learned its lesson; I desperately do. What with the automakers shitting themselves and the local corruption of government, I'm finding it harder and harder to honestly say that I love Detroit. I don't know what American car companies can do about it anymore. With the toxic UAW and the bureaucrats blaming each other for the downfalls of their industry they are totally ignoring the fact that there are other countries vying for number one. It's shameful and it's ridiculous that we spend all our time pointing fingers instead of getting shit done. Now people are vandalizing foreign cars more then ever, keying things like "buy American" on to hoods and doors of Hondas and Toyotas. Oddly enough I take a walk though GM's showroom to find that one of their models are made of 15% American parts; the rest is made in Mexico. It has become blatantly obvious that cheap people power fuel this industry and we as American are nowhere near that willing to work for so little. I don't blame companies for outsourcing, that's capitalism and it's been our mantra for a long time. If we're finally seeing that we're digging our own graves here, we've noticed it a little too late. I just hope India and China would learn from our mistake. I think the first electric car is a decent start. And just for the hell of it: I, for one, welcome our new mandarin speaking overlords (that one was a little too close to home to be funny, wasn't it?)
The 14'th amendment was was created to be an option.