BYD - the unknown electromobility giant
Electric cars are the future - some advantages:
I know that it's controversially discussed, but in my eyes nothing will stop the victory of electric cars in the long run.
As this is no article about electromobility in general, but about the car producing company BYD, I will only name a short list of some advantages of electric cars:
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Whereas fossil energy sources will be exhausted sooner or later, the accumulators of electric cars can loaded with electricity gained from the energy of sources like the sun or wind power which will exist as long as humans are living on earth.
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Even if nowadays still a part of the electricity for their batteries is produced in pollutive power plants, in the cities where the cars are used (and where most humans are living) they don't pollute the air. And apart from that it is more easy to filter the exhaust gases of a few power plants than of millions of cars.
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Electric cars consist of much less single parts: whereas the engine of a conventional car is composed of about 1400 parts, an electric engine has only about 210 parts[1] (just as an example no exhaust pipe is needed anymore). The consequences are lower maintenance charges and a longer lifespan of the electric motor.
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The level of efficiency of electric cars is higher, but the energy expenditure lower. Also their speedup is very good.
- Finally their noise emissions are clearly lower.
As soon as more batteries are fabricated in mass production, also their prices will decrease significantly.
BYD (Build Your Dreams)
If I listen people talk about electric cars most of the time I hear names like Tesla or maybe also Renault, Nissan or other well known marques.
But - be honest - did you know that actually BYD sold the biggest number of electric cars worldwide in 2016?[2]2 To be fair I have to say that concerning the revenues Tesla is still ahead because their cars are more expensive.
BYD was founded in 1995 by the chemist Wang Chuanfu in Shenzhen. At the beginning the company produced rechargeable batteries, for example for mobile phones.
Since 2003 the production of cars begun and from about 2010 BYD focuses on producing electric cars.[3]
Nowadays the company has nearly 180000 employees[4] and is divided in the sectors "IT", "Energy", "Auto", "PV" and "Lighting".
A famous investor
Apart from that it's remarkable that already in 2008 Warren Buffet (who normally invests rather conservative) recognized the potential of the Chinese car maker and purchased nearly 10 % of its shares.[5] Not long ago also Samsung acquired 52.3 million BYD shares.[6]
(By the way I own shares of that company as well, but I guess probably not quite as many as Warren Buffet ... ;-)
What are the reasons for the success of BYD?
There are many:
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Opposite to most of the competitors BYD develops and produces its own batteries (for example Tesla produces its batteries with help of Panasonic[7]).
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It is well know that Tesla is about to build a huge battery producing Gigafactory - mass production will lead to lower prices. However BYD is planning exactly the same.[8]
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The technology of their batteries is really amazing. BYD is utilizing self-developed LiFePO4 batteries (though they are not the only company producing this battery type). Advantages of these kind of batteries are for example that they are very safe (low risk of explosion), have a long cycle life, no memory effect, are maintenance free and environment-friendly (as they don't contain heavy metals).[9]
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While other car manufacturers like for example the German BMW just recently started to build electric cars, BYD has already quite a lot of experiences and their cars have proven to be reliable. For example the BYD e6 is used by cab companies since many years and the newest version has a range of up to 400 km (about 250 miles).[10] In addition the battery should last 4000 charge cycles and can be fully reloaded within two hours (according to BYD)[11]
One interesting feature of the BYD e6 is that it can not only "consume" electricity, but also recharge other cars whose battery got empty. -
Apart from cars BYD is producing electric buses (even double-decker[12]), different kinds of trucks[13] and even forklifts.[14] BYD points out that one of its electric buses already drove from Bogota to Medellin with one single battery charge.[15]
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Apart from that BYD produces high quality solar panels, also outside of China[16] and electricity storages one can combine at home with ones solar power system.[17]
If finally you ask me who produces the biggest electricity storage worldwide ... I guess you will not surprised anymore: it is BYD as well. :-) [18]
But how do the BYD cars look like?
Von Navigator84 - Eigenes Werk, CC-BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50804253
Source (by Warren Whyte)
Von El monty - Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28252869
At least BYD makes some efforts to improve the appearance of its vehicles in future: it hired a former design chief for Audi, Wolfgang Egger.[19]
Apart from that Leonardo DiCaprio became new "Brand Ambassador" for BYD.[20]
Slow reaction in Germany
Whereas China and the USA have two very strong electric car companies already, so far in Germany (my country) things develop rather slowly. Companies like VW (Volkswagen), BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke AG) or Daimler-Benz had so much success with conventional cars in the past that they hesitated rather long to switch to a completely new technology were "the pack was reshuffled". Actually Daimler-Benz is involved in a joint venture with BYD. Together they created a car called Denza.[21] But it has to be said that the key components, engine and battery stem from BYD ...
For these readers who understand German I recommend to watch the very interesting documentation "Fährt Auto Deutschland vor die Wand?".[22]
Sources:
- http://www.umweltbrief.org/neu/html/Elektroautos_Autoindustrie.html
- https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/tesla-byd-jockey-for-electric-car-world-domination
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD
- http://www.byd.com/aboutus/profile.html
- http://www.investopedia.com/news/berkshire-hathawaybacked-byd-forecasts-91-profit-brka/
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-21/samsung-buys-449-million-stake-in-buffett-backed-carmaker-byd
- https://electrek.co/2016/07/29/tesla-gigafactory-panasonics-machine-battery-cell/
- https://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/23/byd-gigafactory-to-be-worlds-2nd-battery-gigafactory/
- http://www-scf.usc.edu/~rzhao/LFP_study.pdf
- https://cleantechnica.com/2017/02/24/byd-e6-selected-for-south-east-asias-largest-all-electric-taxi-fleet/
- https://fenecon.de/blog/neues-von-fenecon-1/post/elektroautos-von-byd-fenecon-startet-verkauf-des-e6-26
- http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/world-s-first-electric-double-decker-bus-london-a6934646.html
- https://motiondigest.com/2016/08/30/byd-all-electric-sanitation-truck-with-400km-range-or-8-hrs-operations/
- http://warehousenews.co.uk/2016/04/byd-changing-the-game-is-this-a-new-dawn-for-the-forklift-battery/
- http://www.byd.com/news/news-328.html
- https://cleantechnica.com/2016/08/22/byd-agrees-new-brazilian-solar-pv-facility/
- http://www.byd.com/energy/download/DESS/English-DESS%20Brochure_2013_02_05.pdf
- http://www.emobilserver.de/elektro-magazin/emobil-nachrichten/archiv/2014/okt/byd-bringt-weltgroessten-batteriespeicher-ans-netz-speicherumfang-entspricht-etwa-2000-elektro-autos.html
- http://www.leblogauto.com/2016/11/wolfgang-egger-arrive-chez-byd.html
- https://cleantechnica.com/2017/02/06/leonardo-dicaprio-new-brand-ambassador-china-byds-energy-vehicles/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denza
Electrobuses should actually be one of possible solution for the pollution problem in Jakarta, Indonesia. Unfortunately, even with the abundance of solar energy, no one in the leading position there has an idea to supply the energy need in government building using it, let alone for national project.
So even if the buses were bought, we would still have problem with the energy suppy. It would have been great if the president is using a hybrid car at least as an official car for example. If they have a budget to buy he latest serie of germany luxury car, then why haven't they chosen a car from Tesla instead if a brand really that matters.
There are people who can actually afford it, but just don't care.
The politicians always get a nice budget for an official car, official house etc., but somehow ... no body cares to even support their own product which is rather environment friendly and would be a good asset of the nation in the future.
Maybe as soon as every inhabitant of Jakarta has to wear a breathing mask permanently they will start to think about it ... :)
Thank you very much for this article, @jak01. I also agree that electric cars are the future and that the German car industry didn't do enough to invest in this technology over the last few decades.
I'm really excited about the future concerning electric cars and would love to own one myself one day. However, here in Germany they are unfortunately still very expensive...
I think sooner or later (in Germany) change will come ... and prices decrease ...
I'm watching the video you mentioned right now and one question comes to mind: Is it actually already possible to purchase BYD cars in Germany? I have never seen them anywhere.
Über Fenecon und Trafa kann man den BYD e6 beziehen, wobei er derzeit in Europa meist noch für den Aufbau von Taxiflotten verwendet wird.
Auch auf der Webseite von BYD-Deutschland gibt's Informationen.
Vielen Dank für die Links. 50.000 Euro ist mir momentan leider noch zu viel aber je nach dem wie sich der Steem-Preis entwickelt, kann ich da ja in ein paar Monaten nochmal drüber nachdenken. ;-)
Ja, hoffen wir, dass zu einem exorbitanten Anstieg des Steem-Preises zukünftig nicht minder beträchtliche Preissenkungen für Auto-Akkus hinzukommen (denk' an die bevorstehende Akku-Massenproduktion mit ihren Skalierungseffekten) - dann wird das schon. :)
Mir fällt gerade noch ein, dass meines Wissens der ebenfalls vollelektrische BYD e5 deutlich billiger als der e6 ist (habe es jetzt aber nicht erneut überprüft).
I think BYD is an underrated brand. EVs are definitely the future, and I believe BYD can accomplish great things only if they try and market their products outside China. I've been hearing some chatter about BYD potentially entering Pakistani market. That would be great for the environment and end-users considering the prices & quality of local cars.
Upvoted & Followed!
Thanks a lot!
And yes, BYD tries to sell its buses (and cars as taxis) in many countries to establish its name there. Later then the cars will be delivered as well.
Amazing, how in Europe and the USA BYD is still nearly unknown ...
I've seen a few of these used by Grab - a competitor of Uber. I don't think they are actively selling to the consumer here though. busybody me found they have a charging station https://www.google.com.sg/maps/place/BYD+Charging+Station/@1.3500079,103.8388728,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x31da173e9d564555:0x556ab68baf4da579!8m2!3d1.3500025!4d103.8410615?hl=en
Can even see the street view.
Yes, check out if you may see some of these cab company BYDs. :)
Hmm, I didn't know about BYD. Look-wise, these cars are very similar to "normal" cars. I am however not sure whether replacing all "normal" cars by electric cars is viable without increasing our electricity production. Probably not, so that we should think carefully :)
That's normal and good that, as always, also concerning this topic there are different point of views.
I personally am very optimistic that it won't be too problematic to make that change towards electromobility. (Actually I think it will be problematic if we don't change because of car induced pollution and exhausting resources of fossil fuels.)
One interesting idea is for example that electric cars could serve as mobile energy storage devices which could transfer electricity, if not needed, to other cars, to the home of the owner or also into the electric grid.
Apart from just using electric cars it will be necessary to produce much more solar electricity and wind energy and (that's most important) to have storages for the produced electricity in many private houses (steemit is the decentralized social network ... and in the same way we will need decentralized production of electricity and energy storage).
Maybe finally one personal experience: in our own house we have a photovoltaic system (with up to 8.19 kWp and solar cells towards three directions to be able to absorb light over a long period of time during the day) and an energy storage (with 6 kWh useful capacity; maybe to be extended in future) and I can confirm that in average over the year we have an autarky level of over 65 % (in spring, summer and autumn often over 90 %) - and technology will further improve and get cheaper ...
But right, lets see how future develops - of course I am no "clairvoyant", too, and maybe somewhat overenthusiastic. :)
We need to be enthusiastic, definitely, and we need to get rid of fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
This being said: Although I am strongly in favor of diversifying the types of energies we rely on ands develop the renewable branch as much as possible, I would like to get a deep comparison between all energies, a comparison that also accounts for the energy and ressources needed to build the powerplants (or devices) and to dismantle them. This is something I have never read anywhere. I think we may get surprises from there, which could also indicate where important problems that need to be solved are.
To be clear and emphasize: I am not saying green energies are bad. I am strongly in favor of them. What I say is that we may need to tune down a little bit our enthusiasm, which is different. More research is probably needed.
I think that research is always very useful and important, and I mean research in all directions.
However at the same time I really support companies like BYD which (apart from actually investing a lot into research) also throw real and reliable products on the market, because I think there is a reason that we say "learning by doing" and not "learning by theory (only)". Yes, I think we have to research, but we also have to act and test things in practice. :)
I forgot to answer on this:
Deal, I agree, that would be interesting, but ... then we should not only consider the costs to construct the power plants, but also the estimated future costs, caused for example by the storage or recycling of the produced waste and also caused by the removal of old unused power plants.Totally in phase with you :)
And yes, you wrote "dismantle", too, which I didn't notice at first. :-)
Geschätzter Jaki das sind die Post die alle so mögen alleine schon der erste Eindruck super (aufgeräumt)
Ich bin da nicht so sicher, denn viele Tonnagen bewegen da geht nichts über Diesel, denn für einen LKW ist das machbare mit einer Batterie schnell erreicht, höchstens im kleinen Verteilerverkehr kann man Batterien einsetzen wie schwer wohl die Batterie sein muss die einen Vierzigtonner in Bewegung setzen will ? Da versagt das system Batterie , Verkehrsunfälle und Batterie getriebenen Fahrzeuge ist auch noch ein heikles Thema Brand und Batterie auch also es gibt soviel zu beachten aber ich gebe Dir recht für die reine Stadt oder für feste Strecken ohne große Planänderungen kann man auf Batterie setzen .
Wie Du wohl bemerkt hast bin ich an anderer Stelle an deinem Kommentar gib mir noch etwas Zeit
Danke und schönes Wochenende
VgA
Es gibt so vielfältige Themen, dass ich ohnehin nicht die Zeit haben werde, alles bis ins Detail auszudiskutieren.
Insofern ist es schon in Ordnung, dass du einfach deine Vorstellungen und eben deine Wünsche dargestellt hast und ich 'sanft' gekontert habe. Ich bin nicht der Meinung, dass man stets in allen Punkten einen Konsens erzielen kann und muss. Es spielen bei Meinungen immer auch individuelle Erlebnisse eine Rolle, durch die man geprägt wird. Beispielsweise ist meine Frau Ausländerin und (zumindest auf dem Papier) Muslimin. Es war ein sehr harter und langer Kampf, sie nach Deutschland einladen zu können. Ich war schon nah dran, selbst auszuwandern (und hätte das mit Sicherheit auch getan, wenn die 'Obrigkeit' weiterhin versucht hätte zu verhindern, dass ich meine eigene Partnerin in mein Land einlade). Solche persönlichen Erfahrungen beeinflussen die eigene Einstellung zu bestimmten Themen. Du hast sicherlich deine eigenen gemacht. Ich bin im Zweifelsfall stets für die Freiheit des Individuums und gegen einen starken Staat, der mir sagt, was ich darf und was nicht. Ich will damit nicht sagen, immer Recht zu haben, sondern dass das einfach meine persönliche Einstellung zu den Dingen ist.
Was die Akkus betrifft, überleg doch mal, wie alt mein Artikel heute eigentlich schon ist. In der heutigen Zeit mit ihren sprunghaften technologischen Entwicklungen (denk an die Blockchaintechnologie), sind vier oder fünf Jahre eine ziemlich lange Zeit. Für damalige Verhältnisse waren die BYD-Akkus richtig gut, aber damit war noch lange nicht das Ende der Entwicklung erreicht. Lies doch mal aktuelle Berichte wie z. B. diesen hier:
https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/tech-zukunft/alternative-antriebe/batteriezellen-forschung-vorsprung-china-byd-gac-superbatterie-reichweite/
Ich bin übrigens auch alternativen Technologien, wie z. B. der Brennstoffzelle, gegenüber absolut aufgeschlossen. Und selbst als alter Kernkraftkritiker würde ich nie "nie" sagen: Sollte es gelingen, das Abfallproblem tatsächlich (nicht nur theoretisch) in den Griff zu bekommen (sei es durch Fusionsreaktoren oder die Nutzung von Thorium statt Uran), dann wären m. E. die Karten neu gemischt. Derzeit sehe ich das aber so noch nicht.