ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - BYD Europe B.V., a Netherlands-based subsidiary of the Chinese battery and car manufacturer BYD, announced it is working with Essen-based utility RWE to bring electric vehicles to European markets.

The companies have agreed to offer package deals for European clients, consisting of BYD's electric vehicles and RWE's fast-charging units and electricity. 2012 will mark the start of test markets. That will also be the market-launch year of BYD's F3DM and e6 models in some European countries.

A joint fleet trial is planned in Germany in 2011.

The F3DM plug-in hybrid has already been marketed to customers in China since March 2010. The car has a range of 60 to 100 kilometers when running only on electricity.

The e6 is a pure-electric vehicle with battery range of around 300 kilometers. An e6 accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 10 seconds. The model is also designed for fast charging and can accommodate a maximum charge input of around 100 kW. That means a full charge takes less than one hour.

In addition to their joint sales activities, both companies are also going to work together pursuing standardization for alternating and direct-current charging infrastructure in Europe and China.

Yongping Chen, BYD auto Europe manager, said: "BYD would like to bring its electric vehicles to Europe, and will start selling such EVs around 2012 in some selected countries where the governments have clear targets/incentive policies for CO2 emission reduction and where the charging infrastructure is (or will be) available."