Comments on: Why Volkswagen Wants BYD in Its Battery Mix

By: Daimler, BYD Team Up to Develop Electric Cars in China

Daimler, BYD Team Up to Develop Electric Cars in China — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:01:26 +0000

[...] as BYD’s battery technology and electric drive systems. As J.D. Power and Associates analyst Mike Omotoso told us last year, BYD boasts, “a large research capability — they have 3,000 engineers in Shanghai and plan [...]

By: gsdali

gsdali — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:49:23 +0000

Labour is not important for batteries. I was at the Electricity Stoage Association conference last week and BYD presented their technology. They presented their cost breakdown and labour makes up 4.1% of the cost which is fairly typical for any Lithium Ion production process (and the Fe Technology is still a Li-Ion chemistry).

A123 and BYD are taking different approaches. A123 are really pushing power and energy density, BYD is going for low cost, whilst still achieving an respectable energy density (not sure about power density but it doesn't look too hot). Both technologies have their place. A123 and others are definitely going to have the premium product. I'm also sure that BYD will be advancing and refining their technology, they are their own in house customer as well which enables them to build scale relatively easily.

By: Josie Garthwaite

Josie Garthwaite — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:52:21 +0000

@sushil A123 may ramp up its production capacity relatively quickly, but it's not there yet (still waiting on federal funds). GM ended up tapping LG Chem for the Chevy Volt battery cell deal in part because it's more established. BYD may encounter some hurdles as it grows, but at this point I wouldn't rule out the possibility that it continues expanding production capacity.

By: Sushil Jethwani

Sushil Jethwani — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:19:06 +0000

Josie - Do you think BYD has the capacity to churn out the Fe batteries in substantial numbers, since the batteries are mostly hand-made? How do they compare to A123, which supplies to GM's Volt?

By: Anil

Anil — Thu, 28 May 2009 09:59:32 +0000

That BYD has a strong presence in China and the country offers relatively inexpensive labour are established facts. I guess the real icing on the cake is that the company offers a ready market and a ready technology that works well for the market. Unlike the astronomically expensive silicon valley startups which are yet to develop a working model of their cutting edge technology, BYD is where the action is with not so high end offerings. But at the end of the day it’s the economic sense that prevails after the glam dust settles down.