History has been made today: China launches first mass-produced hybrid car

[Spurman]

thumbs up to China for creating this first...

 

Not being a country basher here, even though China has produced crap b4.. But at least they are clever to produce something "useful".. Imagine saving $500/monthly off your petrol bills... Cool right... And cleaner environment too.. No need to burn the fossils... Let those money grubbers Oil syndicates burn in hell...

[Ncp91]

Its not as if fossil fuelled cars don't have problems with storage and disposal of fuel. Eventually the infrastructure sprang up around the fuel of choice.

 

I bet it was a foreign concept back when people converted from horse drawn carriages to the first cars. Pour liquid into the metal horse and it moves? Don't you have to feed it straw, and clean up its poop?

 

These batteries won't be one-time use only. The station can have banks of these batteries, repair/refurbish them etc. Its the same sort of waste that we generate with the batteries we use for all our portable devices. Its not rocket science or a whole new area. The waste disposal authorities just need to formalize procedures to deal with expired batteries.

 

In any case, having the battery waste in easy to manage containers is better than having it spewed out from an exhaust pipe, and planting a tree in the vague hope of offsetting the carbon footprint.

 

One may say that power stations generate waste too, but not all power stations run on coal or fuel oil, there's other options (eg solar wind hydro and nuclear power) though in the minority, could come to the forefront with the increasing scarcity of crude oil.

[Maxxtotal]

before we celebrate electric powered cars as the way for the future, firstly lets think, where did electricity come from... from power station...most power station burns fossil fuels/gas...and we know they are not infinite.

 

imagine plucking into yr home power socket. I wonder how many KW is required per charge. so you can imagine your pub bills go skyrocketing...

[Maxxtotal]

China need to improve on it's QA standard first. Being the fastest and first is not good enough for the consumer market. As of today, I will not relate China with quality. In fact, both are inversely related.

 

China is a powerful country today. It has some of the brightest people in the world - there is no doubt about that but their product quality still has lots of room for improvement. I would rather wait for Japanese or German technology to be ready.

 

yup agree....China is still an unproven country for assured quality. They have lots of smart people who can copy and duplicate and perhaps create some really new innovation. But many of them lack ethics. That results in the mentality that so long as they can achieve result or goal, it doesnt matter how they get there even if it means using unscrupulous means and methods. The milk saga is one good example. So can you trust China technology and car for safety? I wouldnt bet on it. For them, as long as they achieve building a car that can work with electricity, that is as good as it gets. The european and japanese are more careful and complete in their stringent r$d process and test. If they just need to achieve the level of standard as China do, I'm sure they could roll out their products sooner.

 

 

how I know China like that? cos I worked with many of the engineers and 'brilliant' tech people before. even the seniors admit they have some of such problem.

Edited December 16, 2008 by Maxxtotal

[Kelpie]

I think standardizing the battery packs should be no issue. The main problem is how widely accepted the standard is in order for it to be popular. Imagine driving to some ulu place and the petrol kiosk don't stock these batteries?

 

Space is expensive in Singapore. Imagine petrol stations have to create space to store them. They are not small, heavy and difficult to stack if come in all sizes. I doubt you can find a one size fit all battery pack for all cars too.

 

Regards,

[Kelpie]

yup agree....China is still an unproven country for assured quality. They have lots of smart people who can copy and duplicate and perhaps create some really new innovation. But many of them lack ethics. That results in the mentality that so long as they can achieve result or goal, it doesnt matter how they get there even if it means using unscrupulous means and methods. The milk saga is one good example. So can you trust China technology and car for safety? I wouldnt bet on it. For them, as long as they achieve building a car that can work with electricity, that is as good as it gets. The european and japanese are more careful and complete in their stringent r$d process and test. If they just need to achieve the level of standard as China do, I'm sure they could roll out their products sooner.

 

 

how I know China like that? cos I worked with many of the engineers and 'brilliant' tech people before. even the seniors admit they have some of such problem.

 

To them, doesn't matter whether it is white cat or black car, so long can catch mice is a good cat. So no matter what means and ways one used, so long one can profit handsomely, one is consider good and the rest are secondary. Even, their ex-leader thought that way too.

 

Regards,

[Tanjkp]

The only car which I think will make it in future...heck it's already running but only in California in America today. It's the Honda FCX Clarity. Compressed hydrogen as fuel, mixed with air(Oxygen) to produce electricity for the electric engine under the bonnet. Totally replacing petrol and diesel. Zero emissions. It's amazing Honda is already a step ahead.

Why didn't Sinkapore adopt leh???? Sound like a good way to go....... maybethe top have not come out with the Master plan on how to milk this cow???

 

It is the unwilling to give up on collection of fuel tax that SGP din adopt this. Look at CNG, though no tax after providing rebate but the threat on unknown outcome after 2009 scare the crowd away..

 

The consolation : can't to see how the new Insight is like (though is same hybrid but claim to beat Prius in FC).

Edited December 16, 2008 by Tanjkp

[Xefera]

It depends on the resources used to produce a hybrid car. Imagine destroying the environment just to produce a world first, doesn't sound all that glamorous to me at all

[Xefera]

Agree. Even if you can charged it at a 13A point, how many people can actually do that since the majority are staying in pigeon holes? Even if limited points are provided in MSCP (given that HDB know how to track who is charging and billed correctly), it may not be comprehensive given the charging period and divided by the number of cars queue up to make use of the points

[Cyberet]

Hybrid cars are today's automobile trend. They are not a total solution to replacing fossil fuel powered car.

 

Even if the batts could be charge using the household 13A power point. The question is how long will it take to charge? Overnight of more dan 10hrs? Dan there's the weight of the car, two engines and the battery pack. How far will it travel on batteries alone when fully loaded with passengers and groceries? And there's reliability, we have yet to know that.

 

The only car which I think will make it in future...heck it's already running but only in California in America today. It's the Honda FCX Clarity. Compressed hydrogen as fuel, mixed with air(Oxygen) to produce electricity for the electric engine under the bonnet. Totally replacing petrol and diesel. Zero emissions. It's amazing Honda is already a step ahead.

 

However, they are still solving the problem of producing Hydrogen efficiently.. so the chicken is ready, but not the egg

[Ahbengdriver]

Breaking News:

 

China will make a car that runs on MILK with melamine. Any leftover milk in the fridge can be poured into the car n used, including those with expired dates.

[Xefera]

that's a good one

[Wishcumstrue]

the china market alone is already one huge pie! the future of automotive lies in 'clean and green' energy-powered cars!

 

That's why Warren Buffett is had invested over $230 million just this Sep on this little known battery maker in China.

 

If any one tracks this Billionaire's recent investment pattern, you will notice he has avoided investing in companies that are related to petroleum and focusing on "Green"-based products/coy/services and technologies instead.

 

A strong indication that "green" technology will become more influential and a determining factor on economy's competitiveness.

Here's a link to what Warren is doing with his money now: http://www.cnbc.com/id/19206666/

[Wishcumstrue]

Being first in market is not enough...it has to be good and reliable enough to convince ppl into buying it.

 

Bro,

FYI, BYD is actually a Shenzhen-based battery manufacturer in China.

Not just that, it is also the world's 2nd largest cell-phone battery maker and had been in business for over 10 year. (even before Japan's Prius was born).

If their products are crap, they wouldn't be in this line for long.

Hope below links help widen your out-look:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD_Company

http://www.bydit.com

 

Edited December 18, 2008 by Wishcumstrue

[Wishcumstrue]

China need to improve on it's QA standard first. Being the fastest and first is not good enough for the consumer market. As of today, I will not relate China with quality. In fact, both are inversely related.

 

China is a powerful country today. It has some of the brightest people in the world - there is no doubt about that but their product quality still has lots of room for improvement. I would rather wait for Japanese or German technology to be ready.

 

Bro, try flipping over the keyboard or LCD monitor you are using now.

Are those made in China and failing on you now?

[Kyojin]

melamine, dioxins and lead included?

[Wishcumstrue]

Hybrid cars are today's automobile trend. They are not a total solution to replacing fossil fuel powered car.

 

Even if the batts could be charge using the household 13A power point. The question is how long will it take to charge? Overnight of more dan 10hrs? Dan there's the weight of the car, two engines and the battery pack. How far will it travel on batteries alone when fully loaded with passengers and groceries? And there's reliability, we have yet to know that.

 

The only car which I think will make it in future...heck it's already running but only in California in America today. It's the Honda FCX Clarity. Compressed hydrogen as fuel, mixed with air(Oxygen) to produce electricity for the electric engine under the bonnet. Totally replacing petrol and diesel. Zero emissions. It's amazing Honda is already a step ahead.

 

Something one should poder when comes to comparing BYD's F3DM & Honda's FCX:

BYD's PHEV F3DM (DM for Dual-Mode) car is now available to the market at about USD 25k to 30k per unit.

F3DM battery power alone has range of 100 km.

Top speed 160 kph.

Battery is a 330V, 40Ah Li-ion pack.

Estimated services life is over 2,000 cycles or over 500,000 km.

According to BYD Auto, a household 220V power supply, a full recharge takes 8 to 9 hours.

Powertrain uses BYD

[Wishcumstrue]

melamine, dioxins and lead included?

 

Not sure how your question relates to the thread.

But why not posting your concern to BYD's engineers?