BYD and Mercedes first car to be an electric B-Class variant priced at 500k plus
Earlier this year BYD and Daimler signed a joint venture agreement that would see Mercedes provide the engineering expertise, and BYD supply the electric drive chain knowledge to the project. The first car is due out in 2013 and will be built on the front wheel drive Mercedes B-Class model, and will be priced high – today’s media reports are indicating that it will be in the 500,000rmb segment which will make it a premium vehicle.
Interestingly enough, pictures of a modified Mercedes B-Class were posted to China Car Times several days ago, but labeled as a possible future BAIC vehicle, could this actually be the electric BYD-Merc? Only time will tell.
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As announced before, the new JV will create a new brand for the EV. Will you pay the same premium price as MB for such new brand ?
500.000 rmb, is that a lot? How much does a normal B-class cost in China? Or, which other cars cost about 500.000 rmb?
@hk, Yes I would.
and Esprit de Flandre, yes it is a lot.
500,000rmb is approximately 73,560 dollars American.
Ed, the current Mercedes B-Series is selling for 300-350k rmb. On top of that it is an imported model so the real cost should be lower. Now we have rumor from BYD that price will be way high up to 500k rmb. For a new brand of EV asking such premium price is just a normal BYD tactic in “blowing cows”, the real price will be a lot cheaper. Anyway if we can’t hear any good news from BYD’s famous e6, this new project is just another …..
The industry has long been questioning BYD’s ability to mass produce a sophisticated battery for EV application. e6 is the acid test to prove its capability. So far BYD is making e6 in small batch due to problems in mass production. May be we are all wrong, Buffett’s investment is not for BYD’s EV potential. The real story should be very interesting.
2013…. Sounds about the right time frame for BYD to be able to “clone” the tech from the real car makers….
There is no need to clone the tech from Mercedes as she is a partner and will supply the real B-Class platform. Judging from past record, BYD will get this new model out very soon to boost its fading sales and image.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-09/sk-innovation-to-supply-batteries-to-mercedes-benz-update1-.html
Daimler is using non-Chinese batteries for models sold outside of China.
BYD deal is for China only.
This is for the AMG SLS E-cell super-car. This is a very prestigious project for SK Innovation to win, so congratulations are in order. However, this is not related to the BYD-Mercedes B-class model.
@ santos palisander
> However, this is not related to the BYD-Mercedes B-class model.
I did not say anything about B-class EV exclusively for Chinese market. China’s high tariff makes use of foreign battery difficult.
However, the fact remains that Daimler is not using BYD’s battery for its models outside of China, which tells you about the competitiveness of BYD’s EV batteries. BYD has yet to win single battery order from a foreign automaker for use in non-Chinese market models.