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China to display electric cars at Buffet's shareholder meeting

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-25 19:06

China's BYD Auto said Wednesday that it had accepted Warren Buffet's invitation to display its electric cars in the United States in May.

Related readings:  BYD's car sales surge 80% in Jan  Autos: Automakers are plugging into green energy  Chinese carmakers steal the limelight in Detroit   BYD zooms past Toyota, GM in electric car race

Buffet will hold a general meeting of shareholders in Omaha, Neb on May 2. The American billionaire investor recently invited BYD, China's leading company in electric car manufacturing, to show its products at the meeting, according to Xu An, BYD's public relations manager.

BYD president Wang Chuanfu will attend the meeting, demonstrating F3DM or E6 model to the shareholders, and the company was working on the details of the tour, said Xu.

The E6 can travel up to over 402 km purely on battery, more than double the range its Western rivals can on a single charge. BYD's innovative battery, used in its dual mode cars, can fully charge in nine hours from a regular electrical outlet, or much faster at charging stations.

F3DM, China's first mass-produced plug-in hybrid, went on sale in China last December. It was at least a year ahead of General Motors' anticipated Volt. So far, only the US auto giant and Toyota have announced plans to launch plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2010.

Xu said at present, F3DM is sold to government agencies and corporations only, but the company will start countrywide sales promotions in June.

Warren Buffet bought 10 percent of BYD stake with HK$1.8 billion last September, which was his first investment in a Chinese company.

BYD brought a range of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.

BYD's trip to the United States in May would pave way for the green cars into the North American market.