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World's 1st PHEV: Just 3 more Weeks!

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by hill, Nov 23, 2008.

  1. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Not only will it be first, but it goes 50% farther pure EV than GM's 'maybe' car. You're right, it's not the Volt, which may or not make it to market ... what with GM holding out their tin cup for money w/ no strings attached.

    World's First Plug-In Electric Car Goes On Sale Next Month - In China

    GM decided not to make the rounds at some of the auto shows. GM also promised to anounce who was going to make batteries for the Volt at the auto show. Coincidence?

    Why not give those millions & millions as a PRIZE, to the first U.S. car company that returns an ev to market ... or gets the first PHEV to market. Can you imagine what the Aptera could do w/ that kind of scratch?
     
  2. markderail

    markderail I do 45 mins @ 3200 PSI

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    Don't know why, but it reminds me of a GM sedan.
    [​IMG]

    Must be the oversized grill
     
  3. Steve321

    Steve321 New Member

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  4. ronhowell

    ronhowell Active Member

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    Will you people please learn to use the English language properly! It is "you're" ... an abbreviation for "you are" ... right, NOT "your right." "Your" is the possessive pronoun, used as in "your home" or "your car".
    What kind of English language instruction did you have in school?

    the spelling Nazi!
     
  5. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    the battery's from the BYD are not that good..
     
  6. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Tee hee! I love it when someone else is annoyed by incorrect use of the English language! I thought I was the only one to suffer from this affliction!

    Dragging the subject back on to topic, I think this Chinese PHEV is a step in the right direction. The Chinese are becoming great innovators and engineers rather than producers of knock-off, poorly made goods.

    This year I've spent a lot of money on musical instruments made in China which previously I would never have purchased due to my concerns about quality and the working enviornments of those in the manufacturing process. However, now the insruments I've purchased are better in many ways than the European models and far cheaper.
     
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I'd rather get the Piaggio MP3 PHEV over this.
     
  8. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Sorry for the ‘your’. It’s just an issue of rushing faster than thinking. I fixed it with the hope that folk’s panties won’t get bunched up any more.
    :focus:
    Segueing back to the Chinese PHEV, yes, the quality of Chinese goods is following the same quality curve as the U.S. followed. When we were transitioning out of the mid 20th century to more modern times, there was a good reason U.S. auto makers only had 12,000 mile warranties. Japanese quality did the same thing in the 1980’s, going way up. My Bundy alto saxophone made in 1968 is not as nice as the Chinese made one that I saw at Costco a few months ago.
     
  9. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    That's the same bunch that made the now infamous Thundersky
    lithiums, right?
    .
    _H*
     
  10. clett

    clett New Member

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    Just to clear up some innaccuracies in this thread....

    BYD are one of the biggest and most advanced manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries in the world. The quality of their product should be assessed by the fact that they are used in a large proportion of all portable electronic goods from the major brands in all countries - chances are you have been using BYD batteries for years in your own cell phone. They are not the same as Thundersky, which is a separate company working with a different chemistry.

    As for the world's first PHEV, this is not entirely true, as here in Europe we had two PHEVs for sale back in the 90s, one from Audi (the Duo) and one from Renault (the Electroad). Both were not commercial successes due to the battery technology not being quite there yet, and were dropped (they tried using NiCds and lead acid!).
     
  11. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    where those not NON commercial fleet cars?

    i have seen data ( i will see if i can find it again ) about 123 company and BYD and the BYd got a lot more internal resistance

    give me some time if i can find it.
     
  12. clett

    clett New Member

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    Agreed, the A123 LiFePO4 cells are superior to BYD LiFePO4 cells in some areas, since A123 are using nanoscale particulates in their cell assembly.

    However the major benefit that BYD has is that it already has massive manufacturing capacity and can produce the cells for less than $300 per kWh, whereas A123 are still over $1,000 per kWh.

    It is interesting to note that the success of the coming PHEVs will be almost independent of the chassis builder and almost entirely dependent on who can build the best batteries for the best price. The battery manufacturers and not the car manufacturers are going to dictate who wins this race.
     
  13. Fibb222

    Fibb222 New Member

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    Yes, although the specs on the BYD car are pretty impressive, if real.
     
  14. Fibb222

    Fibb222 New Member

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    That's a very important point. I think Toyota's recent investment in battery manufacturing is going to pay off big for them.

    And I remember a rumour about Toyota researching a zinc air rechargeable battery that will outperform lithium ion.

    Then there is always EEstor which, if real, would make the ZENN a big time player in the auto market.
     
  15. Steve321

    Steve321 New Member

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  16. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    What about the CityZENN then? I'm more concerned with reliability at this point.