BYD F3DM - From China with love. Series Hybrid Petrol/Electric.

BYD F3DM

Made in China - Three little words proudly emblazoned on many of our white goods & computers may soon be seen on the west's smooth capitalist road network. Shenzhen is home to BYD and a busy Chinese port, close to Hong Kong.  The company manufactures items as diverse as cars, buses, batteries and solar panels; American entrepreneur Warren Buffett bought a 10-percent stake in 2008. 

Plans to launch the car stateside were announced in 2011 at the Detroit Auto Show, at some point in 2012. BYD has some cars in California already. The Los Angeles Housing Authority is using  F3DM sedans. Its CEO, Rudolf Monteil, said the department has saved 73 percent in fuel costs. 

The F3DM is a hybrid vehicle with a range of 38 miles in electric-only operation and 313 miles with it's 1.0-liter 3 Cylinder petrol/gas engine kicking in either as a series hybrid to charge the batteries or in parallel with the electric motor to help propel the vehicle (DM stands for “dual mode”).

The battery technology is different to most similar vehicles in that, as almost everyone else is using lithium-ion or nickel metal hydride, BYD is using iron phosphate batteries – no heavy metals and cheaper to produce, giving BYD an ability to offer 'greener', afordable transportation. Expected to cost around $21,000 in the US

The Los Angeles fleet of F3DM's have roof-mounted solar panel's to assist battery recharging.