L.A. Housing Inspector Logs First 300 Miles in China's BYD Plug-in Hybrid

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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BYD and the HACLA Launch Electric Vehicle Testing Program

LOS ANGELES – The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) and BYD Motors Inc. announced the launch of a break-through electric vehicle fleet today. The agreement was signed and BYD vehicles were put into service at HACLA Offices, 2600 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles.

“We are ecstatic to partner with BYD to test this fantastic EV fleet technology – not only will these electric vehicles reduce fuel costs significantly, but it will reduce direct-emissions by almost 37 lbs of CO2 per car, traveling less than 40 miles per day!” saidHACLA President and CEO, Rudolf C. Montiel. “With BYD’s technology, I believe we will accomplish great things for the environment and demonstrate the lowest-cost fleet program in the United States.”

The F3DM (Dual Mode) sedans used in HACLA fleets can travel by electricity for 40 to 60 miles. An important attribute of the Dual-Mode vehicle is that the users have the ability to manually switch the vehicle to stay in all-electric vehicle or “EV mode” just like a conventional battery-electric vehicles(BEV) throughout the life of the car. However, if there is a requirement to go farther than 60 miles in a given day, the vehicle can be manually switched to plug-in-hybrid electric or ”PHEV mode”, where a 1.0L gasoline engine can be engaged to extend the range another 300+ miles while charging the batteries. “The BYD ‘Dual-Mode’ vehicles resolve any ‘range anxiety’ that consumers might have driving an all-electric vehicle. The F3DM can be treated as an all-electric because gasoline is never required – users can drive all-electric all the time,” stated Micheal Austin, Vice President of BYD America.

“As a leader in the affordable housing industry, HACLA continues to implement innovative technology to reduce cost as a sustainable solution to helping the environment,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.  “I commend HACLA and hope that its example will lead others to make environmentally conscious decisions.” 

The F3DM comes with an onboard overnight-charger which charges vehicles in less than 7 hours, allowing HACLA to simply install standard 220VAC outlets as you would for a home clothes dryer in their EV fleet parking areas. “Part of the appeal of this EV is the fact that we don’t need any special EV charging pedestals or equipment to charge, its all standard – that kept our initial launch costs in control and shortened our pay-back times,” said Mr. Montiel. BYD is also in discussions with HACLA to integrate solar power to charge an Energy Storage Station (ESS) during the day that could then discharge later during the EV fleet charging hours.

“BYD is pleased to partner with HACLA and Rudolf Montiel to integrate EVs and potentiallyrenewable energy to charge them – he is a visionary leader and a great friend to City of LA and to the environment,” said Mr. Austin.

“The HACLA is the second largest authority of its kind in the United States, serving more than 100,000 residents, and takes seriously its obligation of leadership both environmentally and fiscally” said Mr. Montiel. "This test partnership demonstrates our strong commitment to reducing the City's carbon footprint and HACLA’s cost.”

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