August 12 news, August 10, it is reported that the blade battery supplied by BYD has been delivered to Tesla’s super factory in Berlin, Germany. Since the factory mainly produces Tesla Model Y, it is expected to carry BYD. The Tesla Model Y of the blade battery can be rolled off the assembly line as soon as one month (that is, the end of August to the beginning of September).
This important news has aroused much concern and many people have tried to confirm with Tesla and BYD, but the two companies have not commented. On August 11, local time, teslamag.de reported the relevant events and confirmed that the German-made Tesla Model Y will be equipped with BYD blade batteries.
According to teslamag.de, on July 1, 2022, the Tesla Model Y with BYD blade batteries passed the EU type approval, which was issued by the Dutch RDW (Dutch Ministry of Transport). The certification document shows that the new Model Y, called Type 005, has a BYD battery with a capacity of 55 kWh and a range of 440 km.
teslamag.de says the new Model Y is somewhat of a step backward, as Tesla currently sells only the Model Y long-range and performance versions in Europe. Technically, though, the BYD Blade battery is interesting because it is a “structure pack” according to EU approval.
Tesla wanted to install this type of structured pack in the Model Y in Germany from the beginning, with the battery and chassis fused together to form part of the vehicle’s load-bearing structure, the latest 4680 battery pack, though Tesla’s 4680 battery was repeatedly delayed, so the Chinese 2170 battery was previously used. Now, the German Model Y will use BYD Blade batteries, and compared to the 2,153 kg weight of the 60 kWh Model Y that Tesla applied for in the EU last year, the new Model Y weighs 66 kg less, at 2,087 kg, and has a combined energy consumption down to 155 watt-hours per kilometer.
In addition, a Tesla rear-wheel drive model with a smaller battery was also registered in the EU and was made public last summer. The car’s battery supplier is Ningde Time, with a capacity of 60-kilowatt hours and 455 kilometers of driving.
The blade battery is BYD’s own development of a new lithium iron phosphate battery. Compared with ternary lithium batteries, blade batteries have high safety, long cycle life, low cost, the energy density of 180wh/kg, volume of the previous generation of BYD batteries increased by nearly 50%, greatly improving the overall range of the vehicle.
