Warren Buffett-backed Chinese EV maker plans US expansion

Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD plans to expand its US production.

Warren Buffett-backed BYD sells its electric buses across the US, and Denver is among its biggest customers.

It wants to make more at its Lancaster, California, production facility which is set for completion next month, BYD Motors president Stella Li told CNBC

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The facility employing about 700 people is expected to produce 1500 electric heavy-duty vehicles annually, including municipal buses.

Li says BYD is also developing new product lines, such as electric refuse trucks and forklifts.

BYD has already topped rival Tesla which sold about 76,000 vehicles in 2016, while BYD produced more than 100,000 units in sales.

Li says BYD’s customer base is expanding into many areas from public transit buses to private ones. The company has orders from Facebook, Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, CNBC reports.

Latin America is also a key developing market, with BYD buses widely distributed there, Li says.

BYD faced early customer resistance in the US amid concerns a Chinese company wouldn’t stay long.

But attitudes changed with the company among the world’s largest battery-makers, also offering a 12-year warranty.

Early concerns were also voiced about the EVs’ range and performance, but Li says the technology is now accepted and more people view BYD as a global company.