The BYD Blade Battery

BYD electric vehicles are now readily available in the Philippine market. Yet to give us a better glimpse of the technology underneath each of their electric vehicles, we were recently invited by BYD Philippines to visit their headquarters in Shenzen, China. This was where we got a first hand look at the main advantage of their proprietary Blade Battery over conventional EV battery configurations. 

The ongoing development for longer driving ranges require higher energy densities. This usually means that battery packs in EVs have gotten more volatile. In accidents where the battery packs get punctured or overheat, they can result in disastrous explosions, causing high intensity fires due to the current composition of EV batteries. There are many videos of EVs going up in flames circulating online with fire fighters unable to put out battery fires for hours. Worse still, these battery fires can continue to smolder for longer. 

Because of this risk, BYD developed the Blade Battery, bringing safety back into the energy density equation. The Blade Battery actually does look like a blade. It is also safer, more durable, and offers better performance.  It’s composed of Lithium-Iron Phosphate which is much safer than conventional Lithium-ion batteries, as it has better thermal stability, is cobalt-free and more durable. 

Developed for maximum safety, it also offers greater strength, range, longevity and power. Its long, flat design offers better space utilization and better safety in a battery pack.

At the BYD Museum, we were treated a live demonstration of a nail penetration test of both a ternary lithium battery and the Blade Battery in an isolation chamber with thick glass. A nail was used to puncture into the Lithium battery and it instantly bloated, vented gas and in seconds exploded violently and burst into flame with temperatures exceeding 500 degrees.  

The Blade Battery upon penetration did not emit any flame or smoke and surface temperature went up only as high as 60 degrees, showing that the EVs equipped with BYD’s Blade Battery would not catch fire even in the event of a very bad accident that breaches the battery pack located on the floor of the vehicle.

We also learned BYD carried out more extreme tests on the Blade Battery modules. These include heating them, overcharging to 260%, and even crushing and bending. But none of these caused the battery to burn or explode. They outlined that some main advantages are that the Blade Battery has low heat release, low heat generation, and during a catastrophic breach will not release oxygen or catch fire.

It turns out the BYD Blade Battery is so good, you may find it in other brands of EVs in the near future.

As the number of EVs in the country increase, it’s comforting to know that one brand is making an effort to mitigate the risk associated with lithium batteries.