Some may ask how since-departed Australian manufacturer Holden had a part in the development of the current entry-level Chinese EV offerings and the answer is yes indeed.
The BJ6490 was a model built by the Beijing Travel Vehicle Works based on the Holden VN Commodore, but there is a lot of mystery surrounding it.
It is not known when production started, how the Commodores were imported into China and why the Australian family model was chosen in the first place.
Built to electric and hybrid specifications, the BJ6490 was displayed in the former fashion at an expo in Beijing.
Yuan Jia Zhen was a Beijing Second Auto Works engineer and the brainchild of the BJ6490.
Using the BJ6490 as a base for a new electric model was due to its ability to hold multiple batteries.
Components for the BJ6490D (the electric designation) were provided through a number of Chinese and international sources, but the electric motor was produced by the Sichuan Electric Motor Factory.
Interestingly, the motor was powered by batteries found in golf carts ensuring a top speed of 92kmh and range of 100km.
After this initial concept, Wang Chuan Fu, the founder of Build Your Dreams (BYD), displayed interest in 1997 to import electric vehicles to experiment ahead of building the company’s first models.
When Zhen found out about Fu’s plans, he instead convinced him to purchase a BJ6490D and thus it became the first public sale of an electric vehicle in China.
In 1998, a hybrid version of the BJ6490D was revealed at the fifth biannual Beijing Auto Show. A petrol engine was added to act as a generator to recharge the batteries while the vehicle was moving extending the range to 200km.
The source of these VN Commodores was through Holden itself courtesy of Complete Knocked Down kits and the plan was to combine the body with a Hilux chassis.
It’s quite amazing one of Australia’s own was used to experiment and begin an EV evolution.