[Kosh]

apparently is supposed to go on sale next month in China.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/worlds-first-plug-in-electric-car-china-byd-f3dm.php


Nice to see someone is making some progress with this......


EDIT: And for comparison the Chevy Volt isn't supposed to be released until 2011.

[Rodo]

I was expecting a rounded ugly...UGLY atos like car...but it looks nice...somewhat like the corolla or a nissan maybe.

the only thing I would be complaining about :

From the article abobe:
 The all-electric range of the Chevrolet Volt is only 40 miles.

I would hate to (run out?) of energy in the middle of the desert.... well as much as runing out of fuel but 40 miles is a short ride... more like an only use at town or city.

[Solatar]

Well, it's a start (40 miles). I mean...my VW Rabbit/Golf gets great gas mileage on the highway, but city driving is really what kills me. It'd be very convenient to only have to use gas on longer trips and just sort of drive around town with a battery.

Of course using NO gas would be even better..

[Martinus]

Let us hope that it is build more soundly than some other chinese cars.

[Rodo]

It got totally deformed, new-age cars are supposed to absorb impact but that's just ridiculous.

[IceFire]

I was expecting a rounded ugly...UGLY atos like car...but it looks nice...somewhat like the corolla or a nissan maybe.

the only thing I would be complaining about :

From the article abobe:
 The all-electric range of the Chevrolet Volt is only 40 miles.

I would hate to (run out?) of energy in the middle of the desert.... well as much as runing out of fuel but 40 miles is a short ride... more like an only use at town or city.

Thats an all electric range of roughly 40 miles at highway speeds. After that the gasoline generator kicks in to supply the power. So basically whenever you get home and plug it in you get 40 miles with no gasoline usage.  If you live close to work or your work has a charging station then its conceivable that you won't use any gasoline until you go on a longer haul - and when you do the gas in your tank will get you wherever you need to go with the range of a conventional vehicle.

The big difference with the Volt is that the engine runs as a generator rather than as part of the drive system.  So it revs at the ideal rate for efficiency of a small gas engine that then shunts the electricity generated into the electrical drive system.  Its a great concept...the best part is you can swap out the standard gas engine for a hydrogen fuel cell or whatever else later on without changing the drive systems....so long as you can generate sufficient electricity its good.

[S-99]

the only thing I would be complaining about :

From the article abobe:
 The all-electric range of the Chevrolet Volt is only 40 miles.

that's like good for atv and snowmobile range only. i'd buy an electric atv then.

[Hellstryker]

the only thing I would be complaining about :

From the article abobe:
 The all-electric range of the Chevrolet Volt is only 40 miles.

that's like good for atv and snowmobile range only. i'd buy an electric atv then.

Does anyone honestly bother to read even a page worth of posts before posting? 

[Colonol Dekker]

There must be a way of taking batteries with you. . . Although the weight would probably limit performance.

[S-99]

Does anyone honestly bother to read even a page worth of posts before posting? 

No we all like doing lazy quoting. Aka, super posting.

There must be a way of taking batteries with you. . . Although the weight would probably limit performance.

They'll just probably have a smaller reserve battery sort of like todays reserve gas tanks. Then again these vehicles also have tiny gas tanks since they're hybrids that can do either or both electricity and gas at the same time.

[Hellstryker]

I was expecting a rounded ugly...UGLY atos like car...but it looks nice...somewhat like the corolla or a nissan maybe.

the only thing I would be complaining about :

From the article abobe:
 The all-electric range of the Chevrolet Volt is only 40 miles.

I would hate to (run out?) of energy in the middle of the desert.... well as much as runing out of fuel but 40 miles is a short ride... more like an only use at town or city.

Thats an all electric range of roughly 40 miles at highway speeds. After that the gasoline generator kicks in to supply the power. So basically whenever you get home and plug it in you get 40 miles with no gasoline usage.  If you live close to work or your work has a charging station then its conceivable that you won't use any gasoline until you go on a longer haul - and when you do the gas in your tank will get you wherever you need to go with the range of a conventional vehicle.

The big difference with the Volt is that the engine runs as a generator rather than as part of the drive system.  So it revs at the ideal rate for efficiency of a small gas engine that then shunts the electricity generated into the electrical drive system.  Its a great concept...the best part is you can swap out the standard gas engine for a hydrogen fuel cell or whatever else later on without changing the drive systems....so long as you can generate sufficient electricity its good.

I meant icefires post -_-

[MR_T3D]

the only thing I would be complaining about :

From the article abobe:
 The all-electric range of the Chevrolet Volt is only 40 miles.

that's like good for atv and snowmobile range only. i'd buy an electric atv then.

Does anyone honestly bother to read even a page worth of posts before posting? 

I do
I wonder what they will do with all theese batteries WHEN they die
same deal with the priussy

deisel FTW!

[IceFire]

the only thing I would be complaining about :

From the article abobe:
 The all-electric range of the Chevrolet Volt is only 40 miles.

that's like good for atv and snowmobile range only. i'd buy an electric atv then.

Does anyone honestly bother to read even a page worth of posts before posting? 

I do
I wonder what they will do with all theese batteries WHEN they die
same deal with the priussy

deisel FTW!

Recyclable...so its really not an issue with sufficient recycling capacity.

[Solatar]

It might be more efficient to have a diesel/electric combo instead of gas/electric.

[S-99]

Makes me curious about the world of recyclable batteries. Especially makes me curious if anything better than lithium ion batteries will exist.

[Colonol Dekker]

Johnny cabs from Total Recall please

Makes me curious about the world of recyclable batteries. Especially makes me curious if anything better than lithium ion batteries will exist.

Microfusion cells FTW.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Microfusion_Cell

[Mars]

Makes me curious about the world of recyclable batteries. Especially makes me curious if anything better than lithium ion batteries will exist.

Fuel Cells?

[IceFire]

It might be more efficient to have a diesel/electric combo instead of gas/electric.

We'll still be better off when Hydrogen hits the mainstream.  For all of the naysayers the technology has progressed by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years.  Every couple of years the cell is producing more power for less weight and working in extreme conditions.  Its still not there yet and an infrastructure needs to be created too but thats just politics as I see it.

Plus all of the work going into the Volt and other electric cars benefits the arrival of hydrogen or whatever other type of power storage capabilities we can devise later.  I think the next several years will be an interesting one for the car industry.  The car is going to change in some dramatic ways I think.

[Kosh]

speaking of which....

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- China, the world’s second-biggest oil user, plans to have 60,000 alternative-energy vehicles on the roads in 10 cities by 2012 to cut pollution and fuel imports.

The government will support automakers’ research in the area through financial assistance and preferential policies, Science Minister Wan Gang said in Chongqing today. It may also give subsidies and tax breaks to organizations and people buying the vehicles, said Wang Baoan, a Finance Ministry official.

“Running alternative-fuel vehicles in government-funded projects is the most efficient way of promoting the development of the technology,” Wan said. The government is seeking other cities in which to implement similar programs, he said.

China has encouraged local automakers to invest in developing hybrid cars and fuel cells to help reduce emissions, and because of rising global demand for fuel-efficient cars.

Given how they just one upped us in the hybrid category, I can see this becoming reality.

[Colonol Dekker]

Let us hope that it is build more soundly than some other chinese cars.

Blimey, that second one was a bit naughty....