BYD Co. has become the second Chinese automaker to choose Norway as the first stage of plans targeting Europe’s electric vehicle market, following domestic EV startup Nio.
It plans to deliver 1,500 Tang full-electric crossovers to Norway before the end of the year, with the first batch of 100 EVs to be shipped to the Scandinavian country at the end of this month, BYD said Wednesday.
The Tang, powered by BYD’s proprietary phosphate iron lithium batteries, has a range of 505 kilometers on one charge under the New European Driving Cycle and can accelerate to 100 km per hour in 4.6 seconds, according to BYD.
Exporting the electric crossover to Norway represents the “start” of its “European dream” to expand into key EV markets worldwide, the company noted.
BYD, based in the south China city of Shenzhen, is the largest domestic Chinese electrified-vehicle maker. In the first four months of the year, it delivered 80,413 electric and plug-in hybrids globally, an increase of 129 percent from a year earlier.
In Europe, BYD assembles electric buses in France, Hungary and the U.K.
Earlier this month, Nio announced it would begin deliveries of the ES8 electric utility vehicle in Norway in September. It will also launch sales in five other European countries, the Shanghai-based EV startup said, without identifying the countries.