BYD to bring electric cars to U.S. in 2010

Chinese automaker BYD Co. is pledging to bring an electric vehicle to the U.S. next year, a development that threatens to steal some of the marketing spotlight General Motors Co. hopes to grab when it introduces its own Chevy Volt in the second half of 2010.

BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu told The Wall Street Journal his company would bring a "few hundred" $40,000 e6s electric cars to government agencies, utilities and "maybe some celebrities." The company intends to enter Europe a year later using a similar strategy.

The Journal says BYD's U.S. expansion appears tied to Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holding Co., the utility that paid $230 million for a 10% stake in BYD. But it is unclear whether the company would attempt to launch its U.S. operations in MidAmerican's Iowa home base, a market far removed from electric vehicle hotbeds like California. Most expect electric vehicles to first invade more urban areas.

Hurdles remain. The Journal notes that while BYD has introduced a plug-in hybrid car in China for fleet customers, it has failed to make it available to consumers amid speculation that there have been troubles with the car's lithium-ion battery technology. But the potential emergence of an electric vehicle from China to compete with the Volt is yet another reminder of the challenges facing the Detroit automakers as they attempt to rebuild their businesses.

Source : TheDeal.com, by Lou Whiteman, August 25, 2009