BYD Company is ready to spread its SkyRail monorail system across the globe, and S. Korea looks like the first market for its new mass transportation system.
Things are happening quickly. On October 13, 2016, debuted its SkyRail monorail system in Shenzhen, China. The monorail was developed out of BYD’s five-year RMB 5 billion R&D project.
BYD’s initial 4.4 kilometer monorail line runs to its Shenzhen Headquarters, alleviates the traffic problems of 50,000 factory and management employees.
Strategically, SkyRail marks the company’s entry into the multi-trillion yuan mass transit market. BYD believes its monorails can counter traffic congestion in cities around the world while also offering more convenient mobility to urban residents.
Now, it looks like BYD’s SkyRail will be heading to S. Korea.
While commenting on the sale of 21 units of BYD’s 7m pure electric buses to Jeju Island, a popular South Korean vacation spot, Liu Xueliang, General Manager of BYD’s Asia Pacific Auto Sales Division, also mentioned SkyRail.
“We are honored to introduce BYD electric vehicles to South Korean market along with the BYD SkyRail, our straddle monorail. These will enable residents of both Jeju Island and the rest of South Korea to reap the benefits of new energy products.”
BYD and Berkshire Hathaway
In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million is now worth roughly $1.77 billion.
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
BYD Company – the Chinese battery and vehicle manufacturer – will supply a fleet of 11 battery electric buses to the city of Cape Town, South Africa.
The City of Cape Town has awarded the tender for the procurement of
battery-powered electric buses and ancillary equipment for the MyCiTi
service to BYD SA Company.
Cape Town aims to become the first city on the African continent to
use electric buses for public transport. The city’s transport
administration will initially use the easy access 12-metre-long buses
as an express service on a 35 to 40-kilometre route between the city’s
central business district and the Metro South East region.
The administration plans to subsequently reassign the buses to Cape
Town’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system following completion of
supporting infrastructure.
“Electric buses generate less noise than those with traditional diesel
engines and provide a smoother ride for passengers and bus drivers,”
said AD Huang, General Manager of BYD Middle East and Africa Auto
Sales Division. “These clean-running buses will help provide Cape
Town’s residents with a more sustainable public transport system while
assisting the country in achieving its environmental ideals.”
Huang added, “Cape Town’s deployment of electric buses is the first
showcase of a clean and sustainable transport system in Africa, the
success of this project will encourage other African cities to develop
their own green public transport projects.”
Cape Town aims to reduce carbon emissions through a range of policies
that affect households, businesses, the city’s transport system and
electricity generation. Its “Energy 2040 Strategy” outlines a plan to
increase transport efficiency so that carbon emissions targets are
reduced by 3.2 percent by 2020. Transport accounts for 34 percent of
carbon output in this city of 3.8 million people.
“BYD could potentially supply five more single deck electric buses and
five additional double decker electric buses, depending on the city
government’s approval,” AD Huang said. “We look forward to continuing
our contribution to the development of South Africa’s renewable energy
scene.”
BYD’s battery electric bus employs many advanced technologies
developed in-house by a staff of more than 16,000 R&D engineers,
including the BYD iron-phosphate battery that can sustain more than
80% of capacity even after 4,000 cycles. Combined with BYD’s
proprietary in-wheel hub motors and regenerative braking system, the
BYD “ebus” offers the lowest life cycle cost of ownership compared to
conventional diesel buses.
The BYD ebus delivers a host of operational and environmental benefits
for public transit riders, bus operators and residents of the
community, including a quiet and comfortable ride without vibrations,
jerks, or the noise associated with the conventional buses and
combustion engines. The bus can also drive for more than 250
kilometers – even in heavy city traffic – on a single charge.
As of July 2016, BYD bus fleets have completed more than 191 million
kilometers “in revenue service” and have been evaluated by more than
170 cities in 38 countries and regions around the world. To date, BYD
has built over 10,000 electric buses globally.
BYD and Berkshire Hathaway
In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million is now worth roughly $1.77 billion.
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
BYD Company has debuted its “SkyRail” monorail system in Shenzhen, China. The monorail was developed out of BYD’s five-year RMB 5 billion R&D project.
SkyRail marks the company’s entry into the multi-trillion yuan mass transit market.
SkyRail is billed as a strategic solution introduced by BYD to counter traffic congestion in cities around the world while also offering more convenient mobility to urban residents.
BYD’s 4.4 kilometer monorail line, which runs to its Shenzhen Headquarters, alleviates the traffic problems of 50,000 factory and management employees.
As a transportation solution, BYD’s SkyRail is designed to complement existing metro and bus systems to help create a layered transport network consisting of underground, roadway and elevated elements. It will become an integral part of optimized urban transport.
“Mass transit systems are an indispensable solution to alleviate traffic congestion in cities,” said BYD President and Chairman Wang Chuanfu at the launch ceremony. “As a rail transport option with relatively smaller passenger capacity, ‘SkyRail’ can complement existing public transport systems to create a layered transport system encompassing underground, roadway and elevated elements. At the same time, SkyRail provides urban residents with safe, comfortable and fast mobility while making a real difference to alleviate traffic congestion. BYD is the first privately run Chinese company to enter the mass transit market.”
SkyRail represents another strategic expansion of BYD, a pioneer in the field of integrated new energy solutions, building on its core industry expertise in battery, automobile and ECU. Today, BYD spans the IT, automobile, new energy and mass transit sectors and has developed a green portfolio encompassing solar, energy storage, EV and rail transit. BYD is well positioned to improve the daily lives of people through its innovations and technologies.
Named one of “China’s Most Admired Companies” by Fortune China in 2016, BYD has been committed to driving forward green mobility to help address the mega challenge and public concern of traffic congestion.
In 2010, the company announced its “electric public transport” strategy for green mobility, focusing on low-carbon electric vehicles as a prioritized public transport option to reduce traffic-related emissions in cities. This has now become a national strategy of China. At present, BYD’s electric vehicles are on the road in more than 200 cities in 48 countries and regions around the world.
To help address the challenges of urban transport, BYD set up a large R&D team consisting of more than 1,000 people. As the result of a RMB 5 billion (around 757 million USD) investment over the past five years, BYD successfully developed SkyRail, in an effort to provide a new solution to alleviating traffic congestion in cities and empowering layered mobility.
Traffic congestion is a major global issue. Urban residents in countries such as China, India, Indonesia and Brazil are increasingly concerned about congestion despite an increase in roads. There is high demand around the world for congestion alleviation solutions. To address this challenge, it is essential to relieve pressure on the road by moving some of the traffic to underground and elevated spaces. Therefore, it is inevitable that the development of layered rail transport is essential to transforming “cities on wheels” to “cities on rails.”
As a mass transit alternative with relatively smaller passenger capacity, BYD’s SkyRail delivers numerous benefits, including: capital expenditure 80% lower than metro, construction period two-thirds shorter than metro, excellent topographic adaptability due to higher climbing ability and smaller turning radius, reduced noise to allow travel through architectural complexes, visual integration into the cityscape thanks to transparent bridges and independent right of way, flexible management to allow for capacity between 10,000 to 30,000 passengers an hour (each way) and a high speed of up to 80km/h. It is very applicable to small and medium sized cities, heavy traffic routes, CBD’s and routes connecting tourist attractions in large cities.
Dramatic Cost Savings Compared to Subways
The electric monorail is a kind of traffic network which interconnects multiple transit backbones in the city at one sixth of the cost of a subway system.
According to BYD, the total market for monorails just in China is in the range of 3 trillion yuan ($450 billion).
BYD and Berkshire Hathaway
In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million is now worth roughly $1.77 billion.
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
BYD, the fast growing supplier of pure electric buses to cities across Europe, has announced a €20 million investment in a bus assembly plant in the northern Hungarian city of Komárom.
The plant which will eventually employ up to 300 people and be capable of assembling up to 400 vehicles a year on two shifts. Initial output will be BYD’s world beating range of emissions free electric buses and fork lift trucks but the Hungarian subsidiary’s name – BYD Electric Bus & Truck Hungary Kft – hints at other ambitions.
The Hungarian plant will begin production in the first quarter of 2017. It will have its own R&D center and battery test facility.
Speaking at a ceremony at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Budapest, Isbrand Ho, BYD Europe’s Managing Director, said: “Today’s announcement reinforces our company’s commitment to the European market. This is our first manufacturing facility but it won’t be our last – we are actively looking for other locations”.
He added: “We chose Hungary both because of its central location in Europe and its long tradition of engineering excellence and indeed bus making, as well as the very friendly welcome we have received from the authorities here”.
Mr. Peter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Hungary welcomed BYD and pointed out Komárom is the only manufacturing plant outside China besides California and Brazil. He highlighted the fact that BYD was not just building a manufacturing plant but also opening a battery testing unit and R&D center.
BYD and Berkshire Hathaway
In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million is now worth roughly $1.77 billion.
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The days of MARS Bars as the candy of choice for Warren Buffett’s sweet tooth look to be over. While he’s still drinking Coca Cola, he won’t be munching on any more of Mars Inc.’s dividends.
Mars Inc. has announced it is acquiring Berkshire Hathaway’s minority stake that the company acquired in 2008 during the Great Recession. At the time, Buffett invested $2.1 billion for preferred stock and another $4.4 billion for corporate bonds to help finance Mars Inc.’s acquisition of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
Mars repurchased the bonds in 2013 at 115.45% of their face value, but the preferred stock has continued to pay 5% annual dividends to Berkshire.
Back in 2013, The Wall Street Journal estimated that Berkshire was on track to make as much as $680 million in profit from the deal.
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Garbage may make you hold your nose, but that doesn’t mean the garbage truck has to.
BYD Company Ltd. and the Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group Ltd., are planning the world’s first pure electric sanitation truck lineup – a total of 26 different models – to serve the Beijing’s administration. The Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group is expected to replace 45% of its current diesel fleet for pure electric vehicles before the end of this year, and 100% of the fleet is to be switched to pure electric within 2017.
BYD’s pure electric sanitation truck lineup
With large-scale and comprehensive capabilities, the Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group is the most important sanitation company in Beijing. It is dedicated to providing a broad range of services comprising street sweeping, solid waste transportation and processing, water and air pollution management, consulting and design, vehicle manufacturing, investment and financing, and mining resources development.
The company covers the whole industry chain and is one of the most integrated companies in the environment sanitation industry in China.
The 26 models of pure electric trucks – with load capacities ranging from 1 to 32 tons – will be used as sweeping, garbage, and sprinkling trucks, carrying out multiple tasks including sweeping, collecting, compressing and transporting waste, as well as refrigerated transportation for hazardous waste. The truck lineup will cover all operational processes including collection, transportation and disposal. Amongst the trucks many advantages are low noise, zero emission, efficiency, long driving ranges, and life-time batteries.
Additionally to the BYD cutting-edge Iron-Phosphate Battery, the lineup is equipped with several other BYD core technologies. For example, the electric integrated axle assembly technology, which smartly combines the driving motor with the automatic gearbox and drive axle, largely improving transmission efficiency. At the same time, the integrated technology saves extra room for more batteries.
Another important technology is the use of the independent electric motor to control the fan, and water and fuel pumps. Additionally, an innovative design completely integrates the control systems for both the vehicle’s superstructure and chassis.
Another technology is the CAN (Controller Area Network) system, which further improves the vehicle’s reliability. The vehicle body is made of lightweight aluminum alloy which decreases the weight and extends both driving range and life span. The truck is equipped with cameras that grant a 360° view, so that the driver can monitor the whole operational process. The truck features GPS, which renders the vehicle traceable in case of emergency. Furthermore, with its Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) feature, the truck can be used as a charging unit to serve other trucks in need of charging. Moreover, the issue of “range anxiety” is tackled because the vehicles can be fully charged in 2 to 3 hours for a driving range up to 400 km or 8 hours’ heavy-duty operation.
Diesel powered trucks have emitted gargantuan amounts of hazardous waste gases in the past years. On February 24, 2016, the State Council demanded that larger fleets of electric sanitation and logistics trucks be adopted, but BYD and the Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group had already taken action – after setting up a joint venture dedicated to manufacturing pure electric sanitation trucks in August 2015.
Additionally to the unquestionable environmental benefits, the truck’s economic benefits are obvious as well: the operational cost of an 8-ton pure electric loading truck is almost half of that of its diesel counterpart.
BYD and Berkshire Hathaway
In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million is now worth roughly $1.77 billion.
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Europe’s largest fleet of electric buses are now in service in London. The 51 single-decker buses were built in Britain as part of a partnership between China’s BYD Company (electric powertrain technology and batteries) and Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL).
The 51 buses are operated by Go-Ahead London from its Waterloo garage, servicing two Transport for London (TfL) routes – 507 and 521.
The order for the BYD ADL Enviro200EV buses follows a three-year trial that proved the buses could consistently run a 16-hour shift without a recharge. The long range of these vehicles is due to BYD’s iron-phosphate battery technology and the light aluminum body manufactured by ADL in Falkirk, Scotland.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “It’s vital that we act now to clean-up our capital’s toxic air and do everything we can to help prevent the thousands of deaths it causes each year. I’ve set out a comprehensive plan to improve our air, and the transformation of London’s bus fleet will play a key role in making our transport cleaner and healthier.
“These first two electric bus routes right through the heart of London are another step towards the end of conventional diesel buses on our roads. This will deliver extensive air quality benefits and position us as a true world leader in adopting ultra low emission vehicle technology.”
The introduction of this environmentally friendly bus fleet to London will contribute towards improved air quality for its residents as the buses are estimated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 700 tons a year.
In a trial operation, BYD is also testing the world’s first pure electric double decker buses, five of which are in service with London operator Metroline on behalf of TfL. Future versions will be built in partnership with ADL.
BYD and Berkshire Hathaway
In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million is now worth roughly $1.77 billion.
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Berkshire Hathaway continues to believe in refiner Phillips 66 (PSX) and increased its ownership stake in the second quarter.
Berkshire increased its 75.55 million shares position to 78.782 million shares as of June 30, 2016.
Berkshire and Phillips 66
In early 2014, Berkshire swapped a large portion of its previous Phillips 66 position for the Houston-based company’s chemical business unit, which was added to Berkshire’s specialty chemical maker Lubrizol.
“We were able to do that on a tax-advantage basis. We didn’t trade them because we didn’t like the stock,” Warren Buffett commented at the time on CNBC’s Squawk Alley. “I had always intended on coming back in, assuming that the price was right.”
In August 2015, Berkshire Hathaway revealed that it again owned more than ten-percent of Phillips 66.
After hitting a high of $94.12 in November 2015, the stock was at $78.05 at the closing bell on August 19, 2016.
About Phillips 66
Phillips 66 was spun-off of ConocoPhillips in May 2012, and its refining and petrochemical business has been mostly immune to the downward pressure on oil prices, as the demand for refined products, including gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel remains strong. Phillips 66 also transports crude oil, refined products, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL). It gathers, processes and markets natural gas and NGL to power businesses, heat homes and provide feedstock to the petrochemical industry.
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Kraft Heinz has announced that its Board of Directors approved an increase in the company’s quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share of common stock, an increase of approximately 4.3 percent versus the prior rate of $0.575 per share.
The company, which is 26.78 percent owned by Berkshire Hathaway, posted earnings of $0.85 per share on total revenue of $6.79 billion.
The increase of 4.3 percent will bring Berkshire an addition $10.57 million in dividends.
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Chinese auto and battery manufacturer BYD Company Limited is bringing its pure electric service vehicles and a battery storage system to the Port of Los Angeles.
The $26 million Green Omni Terminal Demonstration Project will demonstrate zero emission technologies with Pasha Stevedoring and Terminals L.P.
The project will be the world’s first marine terminal generating all of its energy needs from renewable sources at full build-out.
BYD will provide a 2.6 megawatt battery storage system and two class eight electric yard trucks.
The state-of-the-art BYD battery storage system will be used to store solar power to recharge the BYD electric yard trucks, thus providing a sustainable and truly zero emission operation.
This project will be BYD’s first example of taking transportation off the grid and making it 100 percent renewable and self-sufficient in North America.
BYD expects to deliver the trucks and the battery storage system by the end of 2016.
BYD has been expanding the types of pure electric service vehicles it makes, and recently debuted pure electric forklifts.
Integrated Transportation and Energy Storage
BYD has been emphasizing integrated transportation and energy storage.
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In June, BYD signed a global framework cooperation agreement with Enel, a multinational power company and leading integrated player in the world’s power industry.
BYD notes that the agreement signed by Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD, and Ernesto Ciorra, Enel’s Head of Innovation and Sustainability, will pave the way for possible cooperation projects in electrified transportation and energy storage aimed at residential, commercial and industrial applications, all based on BYD’s proprietary Iron-Phosphate batteries.
BYD is 9% owned by Berkshire Hathaway, and Berkshire has seen the value of its investment skyrocket as BYD became a world leader in a wide variety of areas.
What are those areas?
BYD is number one globally in EV vehicles. The company vaulted to the number one spot in 2015 from only being number ranked seventh a year earlier.
BYD is the number one maker of rechargeable batteries, and like Tesla even has rechargeable battery home storage already on the market.
BYD is number one in pure electric buses that come in a variety of sizes. From commuter buses to buses for long distance travel, BYD has been quietly conquering the world, and frankly right now has no major competitors. In April 2016, BYD achieved a major milestone, the production of its 10,000th pure electric bus.
BYD’s also rapidly growing a host of other product lines that include LED lighting, photovoltaic panels for solar farms, and other electric vehicles such as forklifts.
As for solar panels, in the U.S., BYD’s already has a total 109MW using its 270,000 PV modules being developed in California. It also has other projects using its modules, including a 65MW plant in Utah, and a 28MW plant in Arizona.
Perhaps you haven’t heard of BYD, but they are no fly-by-night company. BYD has nearly 180,000 employees working in 22 industrial parks across the globe.
BYD and Berkshire Hathaway
In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares, and today owns roughly 9.1% of the company.
It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $230 million is now worth roughly $1.77 billion.
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.