Tesla chooses BYD blade batteries for its German Model Ys

The relationship between the Chinese BYD and the US Tesla born in 2020 when the battery manufacturer presented its new cell with LFP chemistry characterized by a blade structure – which we talked about in this article – compared to traditional cylindrical ones. L’innovation had caught the attention of the auto company which last year had started testing the new batteries with a view to a possible partnershiplater realized, which led to the recent delivery of BYD cells to Giga Berlinwhere they will be mounted on the Model Y SUV.

Musk has long been addressing the supply of batteries to producers who do not use cobaltstrongly pushing research towards alternative chemicals, such as LFP (specifically LifePO4, lithium-iron-phosphate) and a BYD may have found a perfect partner.

The blade structure also offers a higher energy density than the classic cylinder, and a faster dispersion of the heat carrying the cell to reach very high safety levels even in situations of high stress (as demonstrated during the nail test), an aspect on which the CEO of Tesla insists a lot.

In this regard, BYD communicated: “During the nail penetration tests, the Blade battery emitted neither smoke nor fire after being penetrated and its surface temperature reached only 30-60C. Under the same conditions, a ternary lithium battery exceeded 500C and has violently burned, while a conventional lithium iron phosphate battery did not openly emit flames or smoke, but its surface reached dangerous temperatures between 200 and 400C. This implies that electric vehicles equipped with a Blade battery would be much less susceptible to catching fire , even when they are severely damaged. “.

Contrary to what has been hypothesized in recent months, the Gigafactory in Shanghai has no plans to use BYD batteries, at least for now; the cells, as reported by Electrek, will be delivered only in the production center in Berlin e will significantly speed up the prompt delivery of cars, that should come off the assembly line in themselves 30 daysas if Musk was trying to make up for lost time due to the German bureaucracy.