[1] Sales to the general public began in Shenzhen in October 2011, over two years behind schedule of the originally planned release date of 2009.

[2][3] A number of e6 units were operating in fleet service as taxis in China, Colombia, Belgium, Singapore, the U.S. (New York and Chicago), the Netherlands, the UK, and Indonesia.

[5][6] The BYD e6 ranked as the best-selling pure electric car in China in 2016[6] and won a golden medal for “Best Quality Product” at the Havana International Fair 2015.

[10][11] Its exterior design resembles the third generation Honda Odyssey (RB1/2), with the rear end shortened and a redesigned front fascia.

[13] However, after rescheduling the US launch several times, in October 2011 BYD announced that sales to retail customers would be delayed at least 18 months due to the lack of charging infrastructure.

[citation needed] BYD's initial claims for the e6 in 2009 included:[19] This range and consumption implies a 72-kWh battery pack, which would have been the largest in any production electric car in 2009.

BYD's "Fe" lithium iron phosphate battery, which powers the e6, represents one of the company's core technologies.

[32] After a drunk driver crashed a high-speed Nissan GT-R into a BYD e6 taxi at 180 km/h[112 mph] in Shenzhen on May 26, 2012, the electric car caught fire after hitting a tree and all three occupants died in the accident.

[33] The Chinese investigative team concluded that the cause of the fire was "electric arcs caused by the short-circuiting of high voltage lines of the high voltage distribution box ignited combustible material in the vehicle including the interior materials and part of the power batteries."

On November 4, 2012, BYD released its new gimmick for promoting the sales of its pure-electric vehicle e6 and electric bus at a Beijing-based press conference, which is called "Zero vehicle purchase price, Zero costs, Zero emissions" and supported financially by China Development Bank,[36][37] over 30 Billion RMB now being ready for this financial program.

[37] According to the scheme targeting specifically the public transit operators/companies, customers can choose one of three provided optional operating models which could be most suitable to themselves.

[38][39] The policy initiate explained the concept of "ZERO COST" by comparing the five-year fees between a fuel taxi and its all-electric cab in Shenzhen city and after a sequence of calculations, it came to the conclusion that "if the hire car runs for 5 years, and the total saving over 5 years is deducted from the higher cost of the vehicle and the interest on multiple payments, it can save 326,400 RMB.

[41] In March 2010, the South China Morning Post reported that BYD had postponed plans to mass-produce purely electric cars in China in 2010, to instead only produce 100 e6 cars for use as taxis in Shenzhen for field testing in 2010 in favor of marketing the less-expensive F3DM plug-in hybrid for the Chinese market.

Production e6s are equipped with BYD's i system, which enables owners to control parts of the car (e.g. the air conditioning and door locks) remotely from a smartphone.

[59] The first South American all-electric taxi fleet made up of BYD e6 was launched at the beginning of 2013 in Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia after receiving operation approval by the Colombia Ministry of Transportation without any bothering license plate restrictions, in an effort to improve the local air quality and set an example to other cities in this green-energy chasing country.

The electric cars will be exempt from import duties and the government has agreed to deploy charging stations in strategic locations in San José, Costa Rica.

[69] In June 2011 BYD and the city of Rotterdam entered a binding agreement for an undisclosed number of e6s to be delivered for use as taxicabs.

The company said it has commissioned a local automaker to assemble the first BYD e6 vehicles to be sold in Taiwan to speed up regulatory inspections and approvals.

[79] In December 2010 the carmaker announced plans to ship as many as 50 BYD e6 electric cars by the end of 2011 to fleet customers in Southern California, including the municipal government of Los Angeles.

[24] However, in October 2011 BYD opened its headquarters in Los Angeles, a year behind schedule, and announced that retail sales will be delayed at least for 18 months due to the lack of charging infrastructure.

[14] Some commentators have noted that BYD has yet to bring a single all-electric car to the American consumer market and has repeatedly missed launch deadlines, giving rise to speculation about BYD's labor-intensive process of cell production's capability of achieving the uniformity of quality required for electric car batteries.

[83] In May 2013, BYD announced that the e6 will be sold in the US only to fleet consumers, and instead of making the car available to the general public, the company will focus on electric bus sales in North America.

BYD's dealer in the city offered several options to drivers interested in the e6, including a traditional lease or a lease-to-own program.

The most popular program allows an Uber driver to lease an e6 for US$200 a week and use it for a driving shift, and thereafter the car is returned to a dealer lot, where it is charged until it is used again.

[84] According to BYD America Vice President, as of February 2016[update], about 80 units have been imported to the U.S., with about 50 of those brought to New York for vehicle for hire companies.

Performance wise, the second generation e6 uses BYD's Blade Batteries and is powered by a 70 kW (95 PS; 94 hp) electric motor.

BYD e6 was made available in right-hand drive markets Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Nepal and India.