For many years, BYD has adhered to the lithium iron phosphate route in the field of power lithium batteries. Although some of its main models were also equipped with ternary lithium batteries, this car company, which started with batteries, eventually revived this seemingly "traditional" technical route by changing the physical form of lithium iron phosphate power lithium batteries, achieving long range, high stability, and high safety, and equipping all BYD models with them.
Adhere to the lithium iron phosphate route
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries were once criticized for their low energy density and short driving range, and in recent years their market share was overtaken by ternary lithium batteries. In March 2020, the LFP blade battery was launched and began mass production.
"BYD has launched two major technologies: the Blade Battery and the DMI Super Hybrid. The Blade Battery addresses the issue of safe power, while the DMI Super Hybrid addresses the issue of replacing gasoline vehicles," said Wang Chuanfu.
BYD technicians explained that the Blade Battery uses cells shaped like long, thin blades, with the length customizable to the battery pack size, reaching up to 2 meters or more. During assembly, the Blade Battery skips the "module" stage and directly forms the battery pack, improving space utilization by 50%. The BYD Han EV equipped with the Blade Battery achieves a combined driving range of 605 kilometers and a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 3.9 seconds.
The blade battery is seen as a "return" to the lithium iron phosphate battery route, and Wang Chuanfu even called it a "correction" of the power lithium battery route.
On April 7th of this year, Wang Chuanfu stated at BYD's new car launch event: "Starting today, all pure electric vehicles under BYD will begin to switch to blade batteries. Also starting today, all pure electric vehicles under BYD will fully adopt the nail penetration test as the company's standard."
Balancing efficiency and safety
"Battery technology must take into account product safety and the affordability of social resources. Without safety, the popularization of new energy vehicles is out of the question," said Wang Chuanfu.
In recent years, high-nickel ternary lithium batteries have gained popularity in order to achieve increased driving range and improved energy density. The ratio of nickel, cobalt, and manganese in the cathode material has been continuously adjusted, from the early "5:2:3" to "6:2:2" and then to "8:1:1". The proportion of nickel, which has strong chemical reactivity, has been increasing. However, the increasing thermal runaway phenomenon in power lithium batteries has also attracted social attention.
"The pursuit of high energy density in power lithium batteries superficially eliminates range anxiety, but many technologies have been commercialized before they have been fully validated," said Liang Rui, Vice President of Sunwoda Electronic Co., Ltd.
Starting January 1, 2021, three mandatory national standards—"Safety Requirements for Electric Vehicles," "Safety Requirements for Electric Buses," and "Safety Requirements for Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles"—officially came into effect. These three mandatory standards are the first batch of mandatory national standards in my country's electric vehicle sector.
It is worth noting that the "Safety Requirements for Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles" has added a battery system thermal runaway test, requiring that the battery system should not catch fire or explode within 5 minutes after a single battery cell experiences thermal runaway, thus providing occupants with time to escape safely.
"After a traffic accident, drivers and passengers sometimes lose consciousness or are unable to escape due to vehicle structural deformation. Therefore, we urge that the standard of no fire or explosion within 5 minutes be extended to half an hour," said Li Yunfei, General Manager of BYD Passenger Vehicle Brand and Public Relations Division.
Batteries also need to "go global".
Within BYD's R&D system, several research departments are involved in the field of new energy:
—The Academia Sinica plays a key role in the research and application of new materials, and has commercialized its research results in multiple fields, including polymer materials, semiconductor materials, metallic materials, composite materials, NVH materials, specialty chemicals, and advanced surface treatment.
—Fodi Battery Research Institute is primarily engaged in the research and development and application of 3C consumer batteries, power lithium batteries, and energy storage batteries. It has mastered the core technologies of the entire industry chain, including battery raw materials, cells, modules, management systems, intelligent manufacturing, and production recycling, and provides battery solutions for all fields.
—The Electric Power Research Institute is primarily responsible for research and product design and development in battery energy storage and application, power information and communication technologies, as well as power engineering design, operation monitoring technology research, and promoting the application of clean energy globally.
In addition, departments such as the Automotive Engineering Research Institute, Product Planning and New Automotive Technology Research Institute, Fudi Power Research Institute, and Fudi Technology Research Institute have research areas ranging from complete vehicle design to new energy and fuel vehicle powertrains, from automotive electronics and chassis to overall driving methods, and they are introducing BYD's power lithium batteries into finished automotive products.
In recent years, BYD's strong technological reserves have driven it to continuously open up its product supply and sales system.
In November 2017, Wang Chuanfu proposed an "open strategy" at BYD's 23rd anniversary celebration. He believed that the automotive industry was moving from closed to open, and from competition to cooperation.
In June 2019, Toyota announced in Japan that BYD had become its lithium-ion battery supplier. In July 2019, BYD and Toyota announced a technological collaboration to jointly develop pure electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries, which would be sold under the Toyota brand.
Currently, BYD's five "Fudi Group" subsidiaries—Fudi Battery, Fudi Power, Fudi Technology, Fudi Vision, and Fudi Mold—are further accelerating the pace of global sales of core components for new energy vehicles.
"Almost every car brand you can think of is discussing cooperation methods with us based on 'blade battery' technology," said He Long, Vice President of BYD Group and Chairman of Fudi Battery Co., Ltd.
