Luisito Bacierto, an L.A.-based Section 8 housing inspector, with the BYD F3DM plug-in hybrid.
Since mid-December, Bacierto has driven 305 miles. His daily route can vary from a few miles, to a round trip journey of more than 50 miles. Almost all of Bacierto’s miles have been in the nearly silent pure electric mode—but on at least a couple of occasions, the F3DM automatically switched from electricity to hybrid mode.
“If the battery is less than 25 percent [state of charge], the vehicle automatically goes from electric to H.E.V., which is the gasoline,” Bacierto said in an exclusive interview with PluginCars.com. “In that situation, it’s a different sound.” He described it as louder, more like a normal car. “It doesn’t bother me.” Bacierto added that the acceleration picks up in H.E.V. mode. “If you are going 55 miles per hour, you see 65 to 75 miles per hour [after it switches].” He said the switchover happened after 50 miles of driving on a full charge. Bacierto said the dashboard shows battery state of charge on a percentage basis—one of the metrics he is logging, in addition to miles driven, charge times, and amount of gasoline consumed.
Bacierto described the overall driving experience as “smooth” and “not too fast, not too slow,” and compared the styling of the BYD F3DM to a 1980s Toyota Corolla. He said the charging process was easy.
“With the Prius, I was filling up every two weeks,” Bacierto said. “The BYD car had a full tank in the middle of December. Yesterday, it’s a half tank. I haven’t put in gas yet.”
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