TESLA

Company to equip Model Y SUV with lithium-iron-phosphate batteries

A few months ago, rumors began to circulate that Tesla's factory in Shanghai would use a lithium iron phosphate battery developed by FinDreams Battery, a division of Chinese automaker BYD. The surprise was the news that new batteries of this type had already arrived at the Tesla factory near Berlin.

In 2020, BYD introduced a new type of battery, the Lithium Iron Phosphate Blade Battery. Chinese engineers have managed to improve the capacity of these reliable and less toxic batteries compared to lithium-ion ones. The Blade Battery combines the stability and security of LiFePo4 with increased capacity comparable to Li-Ion batteries. To do this, developers abandoned the conventional design of batteries located in modules and surrounded by structural battery components. Instead, they placed the long, blade-like elements side by side, close to each other, and got rid of the modules and support elements. And high-strength panels were placed between the sheets of batteries, achieving something like aluminum honeycombs.

During testing, when the Blade Battery was pierced with a nail, there was no smoke or fire, and the surface temperature rose to just 30-60°C. Under the same conditions, the triple lithium-ion battery heated up more than 500 degrees and caught fire, while the temperature of traditional lithium-iron-phosphate batteries rose to 200-400 °C.

The fact that Tesla is testing the Blade Battery became known in 2021, when rumors began to circulate about a possible partnership between the companies. BYD soon confirmed that it would produce the Blade Battery for Tesla. It was assumed that the first deliveries of Tesla's new battery electric vehicles would start later this year, and that they would be produced at the Gigafactory in Shanghai.

However, according to Electrek, citing the Chinese edition of Sina, the BYD batteries will actually go to Germany, to Tesla's factory in Berlin. The first vehicles equipped with Blade batteries should be available to customers within a month, ie late August – early September.

At the same time, as it became known, the Tesla factory in Shanghai does not plan to use BYD batteries in the near future.

Chinese automaker BYD has announced that the number of pre-orders for a new model of the brand - the Seal electric sedan - has reached 60,000. The first cars will be delivered to customers by the end of August. In China, this electric car is called the “new Tesla Model 3 killer” - it has a similar appearance but a larger battery and lower cost.

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