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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