Hong Kong : Chinese car and battery maker BYD Co, backed by US billionaire investor Warren Buffett, said it will start sales of plug-in hybrid cars with solar panels to the public in Shenzhen today.
The company said it will go ahead with the plan to sell the car to mass consumers as planned, despite rumours that it might postpone the date while waiting for the government to announce new consumer subsidies for new energy cars.
"There had been some rumours that we might delay," BYD spokesman Paul Lin said in a telephone interview yesterday. "This will be an upgraded version of the F3DM that we have sold to government and corporate clients."
The company has sold several hundred F3DMs, a hybrid vehicle, to the Shenzhen government and companies such as power producers to help cut emissions in the bustling south China city.
BYD's new F3DM is a low emission version with a solar panel on the top of the car, allowing it to run on gasoline, electricity and solar energy.
"The price tag will be announced tomorrow and the cars will be launched in Shenzhen and other cities," Lin said.
Ordinary F3DMs are priced at nearly 150,000 yuan (Dh80,561) each.
The solar panel can collect energy for the car in daytime although it is not designed to power the car alone, Lin said.
Analysts have said the car's success will depend on government subsidies due to its relatively high cost compared with BYD's other car models that start from 30,000 yuan.
