The BYD Blade battery promised improved safety and low cost when it was announced last year – and Tesla thinks it’s the way to go!
Rumors have flown around in the past year about Tesla maybe using BYD’s Blade batteries, but now it’s been confirmed that the first supply of Blade batteries have been delivered to the Berlin Gigafactory, with production of the first BYD-powered Teslas apparently set to begin any day now.
The Berlin location is now Tesla’s first Gigafactory to use BYD’s Blade batteries, with the first Teslas to be equipped with Blade batteries expected to roll off the production line as early as September of this year. However, the Shanghai Gigafactory apparently doesn’t plan to use the Blade batteries soon.
Currently, Tesla’s major battery suppliers are CATL, LG Energy Solution, and Panasonic, but through this latest deal with BYD, Tesla is showing that it’s got plans to remain somewhat battery-agnostic, and open to using more types of batteries than other EV manufacturers when the business case presents itself.
The guys over at the Makermax Education YouTube channel released an excellent deep-dive into the BYD Blade battery pack late last year, their more cost-effective and temperature-stable iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry, and why that chemistry could help make these new batteries a safer choice for passenger cars. You can check that out for yourself, below, then let us know what you think of Tesla’s new battery choice in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
A Technical Deep Dive into the BYD Blade Battery Pack
SOURCE | IMAGES: CAR NEWS CHINA.
