Chinese automakers are stepping up their plans for alternative fuel vehicles, including hybrid electrics. Warren Buffet-backed BYD Autos released the first mass-produced hybrid in China, the BYD F3DM, last month and is making splashes with its plan for an all-electric vehicle to come in the future.

Now the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp has announced its plans to have a hybrid vehicle on the market next year.

“The car will be a mild hybrid, which uses an electric motor to assist propulsion. The electric motor cannot power the car alone. Fitted with a lithium ion battery, the hybrid burns 20 percent less fuel the standard Roewe 750, says the SAIC source.” (Source: Automotive News Europe)

The vehicle will be based on the SAIC Roewe 750 and Johnson Controls will be supplying the lithium ion batteries used in the hybrid.

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Filed Under: BYD Autos, Chinese Automakers

Chinese auto manufacturer, BYD Autos, has been receiving a lot of media attention in the last few months. BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, started out as a battery company in the 1990s. In 2003, the company purchased Qinchan, an automaker owned by the Chinese government. The company is now preparing to return to Detroit to participate in the North American International Auto Show for the second time.

“BYD recently got a shot in the arm when American billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings paid $230 million for a 10-percent stake in the automaker to support its green technologies. BYD, using its immense battery expertise, is developing electric-hybrid cars that it expects to sell in China later this year, Europe and Israel by 2010 and eventually North America.” (Source: NAIAS)

The company is really emerging as a likely major player in the electric vehicle market of the future. The technology that BYD is working on is amazing. The F3e vehicle is nearly ready for the commercial market.

“The quality of the F3e assures excellent performance: The cost of electric power is only 1/3 of that of gasoline consumption; Top speed is over 150km/h; it takes less than 13.5s to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h; The maximum gradeability is more than 30%; The electric power consumption is less than 12kwh per 100km; The car can travel over 300km / per charge; Meanwhile, the battery’s life-cycle is about 2000 times/ 600,000km for a complete vehicle.” (Source: BYD Auto)

BYD Auto will not be the only Chinese automaker at the Detroit show; Brilliance Auto will be making its first trip to the North American International Auto Show. The show will be held from January 11-25, 2009 at the Cobo Center in Detroit.

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Filed Under: Auto Shows, Chinese Automakers