Look Out, Greentech World: China’s BYD is Coming

When Micheal Austin worked at Motorola, he was responsible for buying lithium-ion batteries for Motorola's mobile phones. His suppliers were the usual Japanese suspects and they were being, let's say, less than fair on price. That is, until China's BYD emerged as a supplier and shattered the Japanese battery cartel. BYD went on to become Motorola's primary battery supplier and eventually became the private-label supplier of many of Motorola's entire phones, not just the battery. Today, Austin is the VP of BYD America.

So who is BYD?

They might be the quietest 160,000-employee electronics contract manufacturing, OEM, and private labeling powerhouse you've never heard of. And they're coming to an automobile dealership, solar roof, and utility-scale battery application near you. Soon.

And if you're an auto maker, or an EV builder or a solar panel manufacturer -- it might be time to be a little scared.

Notable about BYD is their commitment to vertical integration. Austin said that he toured the mile-long auto production facility in Shenzen, China and that BYD is manufacturing everything in the car except for the tires and windshield glass. That means BYD airbags, BYD seatbelts, BYD batteries, BYD transmissions, etc.

This same vertical integration is seen in BYD's solar panel manufacturing process -- BYD owns the mines for the feedstock, and builds everything from feedstock through ingot to cells to panels. This also applies to their battery build, as well.

And if that wasn't enough of a commitment to going big in greentech, BYD is also building utility-scale battery based grid storage from their LiFe batteries. They are deploying 4-megawatt energy storage batteries for ancillary services and energy arbitrage. Austin said the battery cost was in the $500-per-kilowatt range, which is within striking distance of many expert's competitive target of $250 per kilowatt.

A slide from a recent BYD presentation follows that illustrates the vertical integration this company brings to bear.

More on BYD:
From Solar to Storage, BYD Dreams of Power

BYD Press Conference at 2010 Detroit Auto Show