Chinese build electric car while US automakers beg for money

onDec 16, 2008 @ 10:07 PST

Chinese auto-manufacturer BYD (Build Your Own Dreams), which is partially owned by billionare finance guru Warren Buffet, has unveiled its new plug-in hybrid today.

BDY’s F3DM model can travel up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) on a single battery charge and it contains a back-up independent gas-powered motor. The big kicker is that its retail price is $22,000 US, making it a lot cheaper than General Motor’s plug-in Chevy Volt which will not be on the market for another couple of years and will cost around $40,000 US – and that’s with government subsidies.

No wonder General Motors and the other US automakers are begging for a bailout, their competitors are kicking their butts.

Joe Romm at Climate Progress has an in-depth look at the BYD pug-in: World’s first mass-market plug-in hybrid is from … China, for $22,000?

By Kevin Grandia

Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.