The North American International Auto Show in Detroit had turned out to be a fantastic showcase for new cars and vehicle concepts from around the world. What a place, for example, to introduce a new production car.That’s what BYD Auto Co. Ltd. of China did. It showed off its new hybrid vehicle. Called the F6DM, the midsize plug-in hybrid can travel 60 miles on electric power alone and 250 miles when using an additional five gallons of gas.
The company plans to put the car into production later this year and will be selling it for a price of $20,000 to $30,000 in China. Talk is that the F6DM will hit the American market in about three to five years. Interestingly, while the company is also a manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for cell phones, its hybrid vehicle uses a different type of battery that is neither lithium-ion nor nickel, the two most commonly used.
More details can be found at the Detroit Free Press. Our take? It’s going to be more than 3-5 years before the first Chinese hybrids arrive on US shores. The Chinese still have at least a year, most likely more, to get their standard cars to meet US regulations, never mind their more experimental vehicles.
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