Portland to electric car maker BYD Auto: Build your car here. Please!

Officials hope to get BYD Auto to import – or even make – hybrids here

By Chris Lydgate

Pamplin Media Group, Sep 11, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

COURTESY OF BYD AUTO

Chinese carmaker BYD Auto is being wooed by Oregon officials from Gov. Ted Kulongoski to Mayor-elect Sam Adams to select Portland as its distribution hub or even produce some of its hybrid or all-electric cars here.

Political and business heavyweights are rolling out the green carpet in hopes of convincing a Chinese electric car manufacturer to set up shop in the Portland area.

Representatives from BYD Auto of Shenzhen have met with Gov. Ted Kulongoski, U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, Mayor Tom Potter, Mayor-elect Sam Adams, and a host of other local dignitaries who are chasing a collective dream: to persuade the Chinese carmaker to make Portland its distribution hub, its North American headquarters or even – buckle your seatbelt – its U.S. manufacturing base.

“It’s still more a dream than a goal,” says Rick Snyder, CEO of EcoMotion, an electric-car dealer on Northeast Sandy Boulevard. “At first blush, it seems like we’re a long way from Detroit. But we do have some manufacturing expertise – we should really jump on this opportunity.”

“The potential is there,” agrees Jin Lan, a China business consultant based in Vancouver, Wash., who was instrumental in bringing the two sides together. “Oregon has a very good name in China in regard to sustainability. This would be a natural fit.”

BYD has galvanized the electric-car business with an innovative plug-in design. Its “dual mode” models run on battery power at all speeds for the first 60 miles. In other words, the gasoline engine only kicks in if you drive more than 60 miles between rechargings.

BYD’s cars can be recharged by plugging into a conventional 110-volt wall socket, or a special 220-volt charging station. The batteries require nine hours to recharge completely, but can be charged to 80 percent of capacity within just 15 minutes. Altogether, the cars have a range of approximately 260 miles between refuelings or rechargings.

“This is like a hybrid on steroids,” says Scott Newcombe of EcoMotion. “I’d buy one tomorrow.”

BYD representatives sound cautiously optimistic. While remaining noncommittal, Henry Li, general manager of BYD’s automobile sales division, told Sustainable Life that he was impressed by Portland’s green reputation. “The top factor is a place that is environmentally friendly, where people have a green mind-set,” Li said. “That’s very important.”

BYD envisions selling two models in the North American market: the F3DM and the F6DM. The cars, which likely will sell for $25,000 to $30,000, are manufactured in China.

BVD leads the charge

One reason BYD’s cars boast a longer range than competitors’ has to do with the company’s history. Originally, it was a manufacturer of batteries – in fact, BYD holds 30 percent of the cell-phone battery market worldwide, according to Li.

“You could say we are battery experts,” he says.

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