Chinese BYD EV

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YouTube - Warren Buffet Testing BYD E6 Pure-electric Car

@ 1:00 Nice to see an EV Grin
@ 1:40 English interviews start


Note the Related Videos have more BYD to watch

[dpeilow]

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Harrabin's Notes: Electric promise

BYD says that its new E6 electric car due out before the end of the year will do 250 miles (400km) on a single charge.

This is a very big number. The Tesla electric sports car does almost as much, but has little room for anything else in the car but the battery.

The E6 is roomy with space for five passengers and a good-sized boot. The battery tucks under the back seat.

It needs 7-8 hours with a domestic plug to charge the car but BYD - it stands for Build Your Dreams - says a specially developed fast charging point with a lead the diameter of a fire hose will fill up the car in just one hour.

You can get half a charge in only 10 minutes.


The E6 will sell for £30,000 and is aimed initially at the eco-conscious California market. When the price comes down with mass production, it'll be rolled out properly in China.

8 hours on 230V/13A domestic supply = 24kWh. So either the domestic charging or the range of 250 miles claim is a little bit suspect.

[Serge]

8 hours on 230V/13A domestic supply = 24kWh. So either the domestic charging or the range of 250 miles claim is a little bit suspect.

FWIW, BYD Website lists domestic outlet as 10A @ 220V (under Specifications). Range is prominently featured on manufacturer's website, while full recharge time from domestic outlet is not, so I would treat the latter as suspect. Interestingly, the interviewer asks Rebecca Wang to confirm range, but not recharge time.
GCC, which is pretty good with fact-checking, lists power consumption at 290 Wh/mile (likely city cycle, taking Roadster's low 200's for "gentle" driving cycle as a point of comparison), so usable pack capacity must be at least 290 * 250 = 72.5 kWh. At 90% charging efficiency, domestic outlet recharge time is 72.5 kWh * / .9 * 2.2 kW = 36.6 Hrs.
To get 36 kWh into a pack in 10 min requires 36 kWh / 1/6 hr = 216 kW at 100% efficiency. Not sure of efficiencies at such high rates, but at 90% that's 240 kW. That makes sense, given how thick the charge cable in the video is. Waste heat would equal 24kW / 6 = 8 kWh, so comparable to one nice refrigerator (IIRC, "two nice refrigerators" waste ~14 kWh).

[dpeilow]

BBC NEWS | Business | Nokia recalls 14m phone chargers

Sorta related...

[TEG]

"Filling stations" for electric automobiles installed in Shenzhen - People's Daily Online

China's largest electric charging stations for electric automobiles were put into service at the Universiade Center in Shenzhen's Longgang District December 28. The first batch of electric charging stations and poles in Shenzhen are composed of 2 charging stations and 134 charging poles with a combined charging capacity of 2,480 kVA. This is another major move for Shenzhen to accelerate its development of new energy automobiles and a low-carbon economy.

In terms of charging time, the BYD E6 electric car for example, needs just 2 hours to be charged under the express charging mode and can run up to 300 kilometers.

[TEG]

BYD raises 2010 sales target because of all-electric E6, gov't stimulus plan — Autoblog Green

[johnr]

China never ceases to amaze me. When they get started on a project, they'll work hard on it and have it finished before it would have even reached planning commission stage here in the U.S. Their recently completed high speed rail project is just one example - and now it looks like the electric car will be for sale on their home turf even earlier than originally planned this year. But it appears Nissan will beat them to it in the U.S.

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This is a series of serious announcements.

BYD e6 EV goes 205 miles between charges, coming to the US in 2010

Unlike some other electric vehicle manufacturers, BYD has actually been selling cars to real, live consumers for the past two years. In 2009, BYD sold 450,000 units in China, and expects to sell around 800,000 this year. The big news, however, is that they plan to start selling the e6 in North America in 2010 - a full year ahead of schedule.

[The] battery...reportedly gives the e6 a range of 205 miles per charge, an estimated acceleration time of 0 to 60mph in under 14 seconds, and a top speed of 87mph... real-world performance, in other words. It can also be recharged from a household outlet, regaining 50 percent of its capacity in just ten minutes.

BYD now has a US base in California, and the e6 is currently undergoing certification to allow it to be sold in that country. The company is also seeking a third party to help with the development of a network of charging stations. There’s no word yet on price, although operating costs should be about a third of those for a gasoline-powered car.

[TEG]

...It can also be recharged from a household outlet, regaining 50 percent of its capacity in just ten minutes...

Oh no, not this again!

How many houses have 440V 400A outlets?

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Yeah, I selectively read around that one. Sigh....