BYD's roll-on/roll-off car carrier Explorer 1 has completed its first 7-day sea trial in Yantai, Shandong province.

BYD basically determined that six of the ships will be built, with two more under option, according to the Caixin report last year, which did not mention the Yantai shipyard by name.

On January 23 this year, Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Limited (GSI), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), said it had been awarded two pure car/truck carriers (PCTCs) by BYD.

The two dual-fuel PCTCs, which can be powered by LNG or fuel oil, are each capable of carrying up to 7,000 vehicles, GSI said in January.

Last month, GSI announced that the first vessel it undertook to build for BYD started work on November 6 in Nansha, Guangzhou.

The vessel has a length of 199.9 meters, a beam of 38 meters, a design draft of 9 meters and a design speed of 18.5 knots (34.26 kilometers per hour), according to the GSI statement.

BYD sold 301,903 NEVs in November, up 31.02 percent year-on-year and essentially unchanged from 301,833 units in October, according to data it released on December 1. In the January-November period, it sold 2,683,374 NEVs, up 64.8 percent year-on-year.

In November, BYD sold a record 30,629 NEVs in overseas markets, up 148.65 percent year-on-year and essentially unchanged from 30,521 in October. It sold 206,670 NEVs overseas in the January-November period.

($1 = RMB 7.1387)

Chinese shipbuilder starts work on vehicle carrier for BYD