Warren Buffett-backed BYD has big green plans for China’s car market, and a hybrid-electric supercar codenamed “Han” is among them. With a body built from composite materials and a predicted 0 to 60 MPH sprint of under 4 seconds, the BYD Han sounds like a legitimate BMW i8 contender…if it’s more than just vaporware.
BYD wants to be China’s greenest automaker, and its making a bid for market share here in the U.S. as well. The BYD Qin is the current hybrid flagship for the Chinese automaker, which uses a 1.5 liter turbo engine and a hybrid electric drivetrain to go from 0 to 60 MPH in 5.9 seconds. An upcoming SUV uses the same hybrid drivetrain paired with a 2.0 liter turbo engine to drop a second off of the acceleration time, and in a lightweight, Ferrari-like supercar, that setup would be pretty dang potent.
Of course that’s if it proves to be more than just chatter from the often overly-ambitious BYD. So far Chinese consumers and governments have been hesitant to buy electric or hybrid vehicles, and the people in power have been slow to act.
But I won’t begrudge BYD for trying to bring some performance into its green car lineup, and maybe it will get some American automakers to pay attention to the trend of hybrid supercars. I want a hybrid Corvette, dagnabbit.
Source: China Car Times
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