Volkswagen, BYD Exploring Battery Partnership

Copyright © 2009 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

DAVID GREENE, host:

NPR's business news starts with a car battery from China.

(Soundbite of music)

GREENE: A company in China is grabbing headlines because it could start supplying car batteries to some of the biggest names on the global auto industry. The company is called BYD. It's already one of the world's biggest producers of cell phone batteries, and more recently it has entered the car business. Today, media reports say BYD is talking to Volkswagen about supplying batteries for Volkswagen-made hybrid and electric cars. The Chinese company has also been talking to Ford, according to the Wall Street Journal.

BYD has apparently come up with a cost-effective way to produce lithium ion batteries, the kind seen as most likely to power those electric cars in the future. Its one reason it's attracting financial backing from the likes of investor Warren Buffet.

Copyright © 2009 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.