REPORT: BYD pushes American EV launch ahead to 2010
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/minivans/" rel="tag">Minivan/Van</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/china/" rel="tag">China</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/crossovers-cuvs/" rel="tag">Crossover</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/alternative-fuel/" rel="tag">Alternative Fuel</a></p><a href="http://green.autoblog.com/gallery/byd-e6-electric-mpv/"><img border="0" hspace="4" alt="" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2009/08/byd-e6.jpg" /></a><br />
<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><em><strong><smal l>BYD e6 electric MPV - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></strong></em></div>
<br />According to a report from <em>The</em> <em>Wall Street Journal</em>, Warren Buffet-backed Chinese automaker BYD has moved up its schedule and plans to sell a fully electric car here in the United States next year. Interestingly, the automaker's <em>original</em> plans were to sell its first products here in the U.S. in 2010, but it then <a href="http://green.autoblog.com/2008/12/27/chinas-byd-delays-european-and-us-sales-a-year-to-2011/">delayed that projection by a year</a>. The new announcement puts BYD back on track for its original 2010 target -- perhaps not coincidentally in line with the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/06/nissan-to-begin-retail-sales-of-leaf-ev-next-year-in-five-major/">launch of the new Nissan Leaf</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://green.autoblog.com/2008/04/17/beijing-2008-byd-e6-electric-mpv/">BYD's e6 five-seatcrossover</a> is the first vehicle exected to hit the U.S. market, with a price of just over $40,000. Details on the car's launch are still slim at this point, but WSJ indicates it will be a limited to a few hundred vehicles in select markets. Expect the initial vehicles to go to "government agencies, utilities and maybe some celebrities," according to BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu. <br /><br />Last we heard, the all-electric e6 was capable of accelerating to 100 km/h (62 mph) in ten seconds with a maximum speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). Perhaps more importantly, the car's range has been quoted at 300km (186 miles) on a full charge of its lithium ion battery pack.<br /><br /><br /><div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://green.autoblog.com/photos/byd-e6-electric-mpv/low/">BYD e6 electric MPV</a></strong></p><a href="http://green.autoblog.com/photos/byd-e6-electric-mpv/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2009/08/byd-e6-03_thumbnail.jpg" alt="byd-e6-03" title="byd-e6-03" /></a><a href="http://green.autoblog.com/photos/byd-e6-electric-mpv/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2009/08/byd-e6-02_thumbnail.jpg" alt="byd-e6-02" title="byd-e6-02" /></a><a href="http://green.autoblog.com/photos/byd-e6-electric-mpv/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2009/08/byd-e6-01_thumbnail.jpg" alt="byd-e6-01" title="byd-e6-01" /></a><a href="http://green.autoblog.com/photos/byd-e6-electric-mpv/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2009/08/byd-e6-04_thumbnail.jpg" alt="byd-e6-04" title="byd-e6-04" /></a><a href="http://green.autoblog.com/photos/byd-e6-electric-mpv/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2009/08/byd-e6-05_thumbnail.jpg" alt="byd-e6-05" title="byd-e6-05" /></a></div><br />[Source: <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125085247014949083.html ">The Wall Street Journal</a>]<br /><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/23/report-byd-pushes-american-ev-launch-ahead-to-2010/">REPORT: BYD pushes American EV launch ahead to 2010</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:16:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125085247014949083.html >Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/23/report-byd-pushes-american-ev-launch-ahead-to-2010/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19137493/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/23/report-byd-pushes-american-ev-launch-ahead-to-2010/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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