Anne Zhang

    zhangy49@gmail.com

    BYD, a Shenzhen-based electric car manufacturer, signed a contract Friday with Apex Brasil — the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, to build an iron battery factory in Brazil.

    The factory, after being built, will be the first of its kind in South America. It will produce iron-phosphate batteries that are safe and recyclable, said Li Tie, general manager of BYD’s Brazilian branch.

    Li said that BYD developed the battery on its own and that the project will lay a base for Brazil’s future development in electric cars.

    BYD said it plans to purchase a 1.5-million-square- meter site for the factory in Brazil by the end of the year or the beginning of next year. The factory is expected to be finished by 2015.

    The battery factory will bring BYD’s investment in Brazil up to US$400 million. “This is the first stage of manufacturing expansion,” Li told Yahoo Business Wire.

    Wang Chuanfu, the CEO of BYD, said in the same report that “our dream is to ... help the region achieve their zero emissions goals,” adding that the factory will provide Brazil with top-notch renewable energy technologies and create many job opportunities.

    Mauricio Borges, president of Apex Brasil, said BYD’s investment will help promote the development of new energies in Brazil.

    Some Brazilian cities — Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and St. Paul, among others — have started trial operations to use BYD’s electric buses since last November. They have reportedly been well received by locals.