BYD Set to Launch Electric Car

By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU

SHENZHEN, China -- A Chinese company best-known for making cellphone batteries says it is on the verge of launching the country's first mass-produced electric car and may also have lined up its first large purchase order.
In an interview, BYD Co. Chairman Wang Chuanfu said the car, known as the F3DM, will be on sale in China by the end of November, pending government approval. Mr. Wang declined to provide a sales target or price range for the new electric car but said in Beijing earlier this year that the vehicle could carry a price tag of about 150,000 yuan ($22,000) and is capable of going as far as 110 kilometers on electricity when fully charged.
Industry analysts say the new car -- a key reason why investor Warren Buffett recently decided to invest $230 million for a 10% stake in Mr. Wang's company -- is similar in design to General Motors Corp.'s Chevy Volt but is due to hit the market two years earlier than either the Volt or Toyota Motor Corp.'s new breed of hybrid-electric car. Both GM and Toyota say they are taking more time to make sure lithium-ion batteries they are using for their electric cars are safe.
BYD uses iron-phosphate-based lithium-ion batteries, which it claims it has developed on its own, for the F3DM. Mr. Wang has said those batteries are "inherently safe" because they are more chemically stable, although they compromise to some extent on the ability to pack energy in each cell, compared with more conventional lithium-ion batteries.
The Shenzhen company, better-known for being a top global producer of rechargeable batteries for cellphones and other devices, began producing cars in 2005. It has since become one of China's fast-growing home-grown car brands, with a small number of cars, including the gasoline-powered F3 compact sedan. The new car will carry a small gasoline combustion engine to charge the car's battery when it runs out or to assist the electric engine when accelerating.
Mr. Wang also said hemay have found a new buyer: the company's hometown. Shenzhen, a key manufacturing center across the border from Hong Kong, is planning to replace some of its taxis and buses with electric and gas-electric hybrids.
Though no final decisions have been made, Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng confirmed that the city is considering whether to push local cab and bus companies to buy "green" technologies. "As far as encouraging use of vehicles driven by electric motors, we are doing this in a progressive way; gradually we are going to realize more use of electric-powered vehicles in Shenzhen."
The city at the end of last year had about 8,000 buses, 2,500 minibuses and 11,000 taxis in operation, according to the statistics bureau of Shenzhen. Mr. Xu stopped short of saying BYD's car would be used, but those familiar with the city's plans say Shenzhen would likely follow a pattern common in most Chinese cities of using locally produced automobiles.
BYD's ability to offer a green car at a relatively affordable price is a factor that MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., which is 87.4%-owned by Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., cited for its investment in BYD. According to BYD's Mr. Wang, the company may accelerate its plans for entering the U.S. and European markets by using MidAmerican Energy's money.
BYD has no concrete plans for launching products in the U.S. and European markets, but its officials said a hybrid-electric version of the company's F6 gasoline-powered sedan could hit the U.S. market as early as 2010.—Gao Sen in Beijing contributed to this article.
Write to Norihiko Shirouzu at norihiko.shirouzu@wsj.com