Uncovering China's Battery Breakthrough

       as the world tries to shift towards a

net zero carbon future

electric cars are seen as an important

part of the transition

however the batteries that store the

energy for these vehicles

have been a point of conflict for many

the issues that cause these conflicts

largely relate to the range

recharge time price safety

and environmental impacts of the

batteries

so what's the answer to all these

problems well the chinese firm byd

think they have the solution this is the

new byd blade

battery cell the main difference between

these battery cells

and the ones used by many other auto

makers is the shape

this is a commonly used 21700

cell it is 70 millimeters long and

shaped like a cylinder

in comparison this is the blade battery

it is nearly a meter long and shaped

like a rectangle

so why is this so revolutionary well

let's see how it helps to tackle

the five issues i mentioned before the

topic of range is really an issue of

storing as much energy as possible into

a smaller place

as possible normal battery packs in

electric vehicles have complex and large

cooling systems running through them

these take up a lot of space

and result in less battery cells fitting

into the vehicle

therefore resulting in a lower range one

of the key secrets

to the blade battery's success is its

large surface area

this large area means it can be cooled

by air

flowing through the gaps in between the

cells removing the need

for large liquid cooling pipes not only

this

but the batteries can act as a

structural component to the car

replacing the need for parts of the

chassis as a result

when the full battery pack is

constructed the byd

battery can store more energy per liter

than the aldi e-tron the jaguar i-pace

and even the long-range tesla model 3.

on the topic of recharge times this is

also tackled by the large surface area

that allows more heat to escape from the

battery while it is charging

this is important as the faster you

charge the more heat is generated

additionally the cells use a lithium-ion

phosphate chemistry

which is great for charging and

discharging very quickly

with the added bonus that is also the

cheapest

of all battery chemistries safety is

something many people worry about

after seeing videos of phones and cars

going up

in flames whilst the dangers of this in

normal evs are actually very low

they're even lower with the blade

batteries here is a video of a nail

going through a normal lithium ion

battery

it doesn't look too good does it in fact

the cell can reach

up to 500 degrees celsius

now here is the same test with the byd

blade battery

due to that massive surface area of the

cell

heat can escape quickly enough to

prevent any fires

and keep the battery between 30 and

60 degrees celsius finally on the topic

of the environment

one key issue with batteries is the use

of a metal called

cobalt which is primarily sourced from

australia and congo

where there are many issues with toxic

waste and

human exploitation byd's blade batteries

solve this by not using any cobalt in

the cell chemistry

also recycling of the blade batteries is

much easier

normal cylindrical cells are hard to

disassemble

as they are rolled up tightly but due to

the shape of the blade batteries

the layers can be pulled apart much more

easily

for recycling however it is not all good

news

as unfortunately the cells are

manufactured

in china which has a grid highly

dependent on fossil fuels

and therefore there is a lot of

pollution associated

with actually producing the cells

despite this

it's not all bad and i think the blade

batteries solve a lot of important

challenges

also this is not just a concept

the byd han the first model equipped

with the blade batteries

has sold more than 10 000 units each

month

consecutively since its launch in july

2020

so what do you think of the byd cells

will the blade battery replace the

conventional cylinder

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