New battery could steer China into lead in electric-car market

: Image via Wikipedia

The BYD Auto‘s new E6 is an ordinary looking sedan, which is not an bad thing for an electric car. The weird, boxy “green look” of so many of the pioneer models had limited appeal.

However, it’s the battery in the E6 that is causing the buzz in the decidedly dejected auto industry. Instead of being made with lithium ion — which is expensive, increasingly hard to come by, environmentally unfriendly, and potentially dangerous in a crash — BYD has devised a battery that uses ferrous ion, which is cheap, plentiful and green. If it turns out to be as functional as the Chinese company claims, it could be the breakthrough to bring electric cars into the mainstream.

Warren Buffett thinks it is. The American financier invested $230 million in BYD last year.