Related News
Home » Business » Autotalk Special
BYD to roll out e6 electric cars in China next month
By Jin Jing |
September 19, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BYD Company Ltd said it will start selling new e6 electric cars to private consumers in China starting at the end of October.
The car producer, backed by billionaire Warren Buffett, said the new generation of the battery-powered e6 sedan will be available first in Shenzhen, where the company is based, before going to other cities nationwide.
BYD's plan to kick off sales to private consumers comes after its gasoline-powered vehicles posted a 23 percent sales decline in the first half of this year.
It is also joining the rush among car makers worldwide to fight for a bigger slice of China's booming new energy vehicle market, which still has poor infrastructure and high prices.
China, the world's largest auto market, has been promoting new energy vehicles through subsidies to encourage the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. The government aims to have 1 million electric-powered vehicles on roads by 2015 in an attempt to reduce emissions and fuel imports.
Nissan Motor Co plans to export its Leaf electric car to China for fleet sales, said Kimiyasu Nakamura, president of Dongfeng Motor Co, the Chinese partner of Nissan.
According to Nakamura, Nissan may also consider producing the Leaf in China if sales go well.
General Motors will start selling its Volt extended-range electric vehicle in China later this year and Volkswagen also plans to manufacture electric vehicles in China as early as 2013.
BYD said the new e6 mid-class sedan has been developed from the current version used in Shenzhen's taxi fleet. But the new model has improvements including electric seat adjustment.
The model, powered by a lithium ion battery, can run up to 300 kilometers on a full charge and it takes about 15 minutes to restore 80 percent of the battery's power through charging poles.
Launched last year, the e6 sells for about 180,000 yuan (US$29,375) in Shenzhen, lower than the original price of 299,800 yuan after government subsidies. In the first half of this year, only four models were sold.
Although governments are keen on new energy vehicles, there are now only an estimated 10,000 electric vehicles on the road nationwide.
Li Gangling, an analyst from Industrial Securities, said: "Considering infrastructure and awareness, it takes about three to five years to achieve market acceptance for electric vehicles. BYD's electric vehicle is not expected to hit the market on a large scale."
Besides the e6, BYD also produces the F3DM dual-mode plug-in hybrid sedan as well as K9 electric buses.
Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, earlier said the car maker plans to export the e6 sedan and electric buses to the United States and Europe next year. A right-hand drive e6 will go on sale in Hong Kong in June 2012.
Last month, BYD partnered with Hertz Global Holdings Co to add E6 electric sedans to the car rental company's fleet in China.
The car maker also provided 300 units of e6 taxies and 200 K9 electric buses to the 2011 Shenzhen Summer Universiade last month.
The car producer, backed by billionaire Warren Buffett, said the new generation of the battery-powered e6 sedan will be available first in Shenzhen, where the company is based, before going to other cities nationwide.
BYD's plan to kick off sales to private consumers comes after its gasoline-powered vehicles posted a 23 percent sales decline in the first half of this year.
It is also joining the rush among car makers worldwide to fight for a bigger slice of China's booming new energy vehicle market, which still has poor infrastructure and high prices.
China, the world's largest auto market, has been promoting new energy vehicles through subsidies to encourage the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. The government aims to have 1 million electric-powered vehicles on roads by 2015 in an attempt to reduce emissions and fuel imports.
Nissan Motor Co plans to export its Leaf electric car to China for fleet sales, said Kimiyasu Nakamura, president of Dongfeng Motor Co, the Chinese partner of Nissan.
According to Nakamura, Nissan may also consider producing the Leaf in China if sales go well.
General Motors will start selling its Volt extended-range electric vehicle in China later this year and Volkswagen also plans to manufacture electric vehicles in China as early as 2013.
BYD said the new e6 mid-class sedan has been developed from the current version used in Shenzhen's taxi fleet. But the new model has improvements including electric seat adjustment.
The model, powered by a lithium ion battery, can run up to 300 kilometers on a full charge and it takes about 15 minutes to restore 80 percent of the battery's power through charging poles.
Launched last year, the e6 sells for about 180,000 yuan (US$29,375) in Shenzhen, lower than the original price of 299,800 yuan after government subsidies. In the first half of this year, only four models were sold.
Although governments are keen on new energy vehicles, there are now only an estimated 10,000 electric vehicles on the road nationwide.
Li Gangling, an analyst from Industrial Securities, said: "Considering infrastructure and awareness, it takes about three to five years to achieve market acceptance for electric vehicles. BYD's electric vehicle is not expected to hit the market on a large scale."
Besides the e6, BYD also produces the F3DM dual-mode plug-in hybrid sedan as well as K9 electric buses.
Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, earlier said the car maker plans to export the e6 sedan and electric buses to the United States and Europe next year. A right-hand drive e6 will go on sale in Hong Kong in June 2012.
Last month, BYD partnered with Hertz Global Holdings Co to add E6 electric sedans to the car rental company's fleet in China.
The car maker also provided 300 units of e6 taxies and 200 K9 electric buses to the 2011 Shenzhen Summer Universiade last month.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
