BYD sells 13 F3DM’s in first month on sale
The BYD F3DM has not turned into the golden goose that the Chinese green car industry were hoping for, with a merge 13 units being sold in just over a month of being on sale to the general public.
The F3DM was China’s first plug in hybrid which is powered by a 1.0L engine and also an electric motor and battery pack which initially went on sale in late 2008 to companies and government agencies, and was released to private buyers late last month. The poor sales are being blamed on the government delaying the introduction of subsidies for hybrid motors which would have brought the cost of the F3DM down from 160,000rmb to a more suitable price of 100,000rmb, which would obviously make it much more attractive to potential consumers.
At the end of the month, the government is expected to announce its long awaited subsidies for soft hybrid, hybrid, and pure electric and other new energy source vehicles. Soft hybrid vehicles, i.e. vehicles equipped with stop and start systems (like all of Geely’s recent vehicles in Beijing) are able to receive upto 4000rmb ($585USD) in subsidies, whilst a pure electric vehicle is able to receive in the region of 50,000rmb to 60,000rmb ($7,321USD to $8,786USD).
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The thing to remember is that it is only on sale to the public in one city….Shenzhen. Also, don’t forget that the subsidies for it are just around the corner…buyers surely are holding back until they are announced, artificially lowering sales.
This doesn’t surprise me at all.
I think, the main problem is not the lack of subsidies (although that is also the problem). The greatest pain is, that there are usually no electric power outlets in garages or whereever, we park our cars. The whole idea is to charge the car during the night!!
Also, a lot of news outlets are reporting that although only 13 sold, another 500 were ordered, half of the expected sales for the entire year. The problem is that BYD just can’t produce them fast enough.
Two questions please. Is the F3 their Corolla size car?
Has anyone on the forum had a chance to drive this F3DM
version? Thanks.
First question’s answer: Yes, dimensions are comparable.
Second question: No, but journalists who have driven it say the car accelerates well under electric power but that the transition between modes is rough, there’s some strong vibrations in the power steering, and that recharging the batteries produces a roar.
I’m not sure if the latter refers to laughter or otherwise…..
Sales should improve as Chinese consumers become more aware of the F3DM, plus help (subsidies) from the government.
I just thought for a second….this building here, built this year, no power plugs in the garage or along the street, not that they would let me plug in without figuring out how to charge for it, anyway I am up on the 15th floor, run the power cable out the window, down the side of the building, about say 200 feet or so, another 200 feet to the garage entrance and wherever I park….do they make 600 foot power cables like this?
All in all….plug in cars in china….really really stupid idea
That’s only for your case, plus, the government is installing hardware all across China to make charging easier, including in garages and on the streets.
One hand side everybody is waiting for the subcidary, of course. On the other hand the price looks very high compared with the F3. This looks for me a bit like BYD don’t like to sell the car in bigger volumes. Therefore they offer it also only in one city.
Toyota and other car manufacturers sell the hybrid for a premium of about 4.000 $ not for 14.000$ as BYD does. It could be that other carmakers generate losses with Hybrid. In reality even the Prius is available only in small numbers and Toyota don’t sell as much as the could.
If BYD realy needs 100.000 RMB premium for Hybrid they should stop it for compact cars. The cost for Hybrid are caused largly by the the Gearbox and the development. The biggest cost however is the Battery. The is no indication that the Battery price will come down in the near future. It is impossible to subsidy bigger number of car sales for a long time. The subsidy could be only a kick off. New technology has to generate profits not subsidy.