Every new EV battery reckons that it’s going to revolutionise the world of EV batteries, but BYD’s new battery might be about to revolutionise the world of EV batteries – and it’s arriving sooner than you might think.
The Chinese carmaker stands apart from most other manufacturers in that it designs and builds its own batteries, maintaining control of the supply chain so there are no surprises. With that advantage in hand it would be easy enough for the world's largest EV seller to play it safe, but its second generation of Blade battery is a bold move.
Blade 2.0 maintains the positives of its predecessor, except that BYD has found ways to cram even more electricity inside with a 5% increase in energy density, and has made the battery more reliable, with a 2.5% reduction in degradation.
But the big news is the charging, and I hope you’re sitting down for this – BYD says that its new Flash charger will get the battery from 10% to 70% in five minutes, or from 10% to 97% in nine minutes.
Company chairman Wang Chuanfu was present at the showcase in China where BYD displayed its new tech for the first time, and he said that the company understood the importance of addressing drivers’ worries about range anxiety and battery performance in all conditions.
Low temperature charging is a particular concern in China, so BYD has developed Blade 2.0 and the Flash charger to get from 20% to 97% capacity in 12 minutes in temperatures as low as -30ºC.
The company says that the new battery and charger combination are the result of six years of research, and feature cutting edge science that we really don’t understand.
‘Directionally engineered, multi-level particle-size architecture that enables dense packing and rapid deintercalation’? Check. ‘Multi-dimensional lithium-insertion site construction, allowing 360° 3D high-speed lithium-ion intercalation’? Check.
BYD’s brave scientists have also jammed nails in the battery while it was fast charging and overloaded the battery by short circuiting cells so that temperatures reached 700ºC – crucially, no fire.
BYD’s T-shaped Flash charger is a new setup that delivers up to 1,500kW to the battery, and features an energy storage system that can be charged up at slower speeds but discharges electricity to your car at ultra-fast speeds.
The shape of the charger means it’s flexible for wherever the car’s charge port is, and the cable can swivel along the top. BYD’s already installed over 4,000 of these in China, with plans to reach 20,000 by the end of 2026. But don’t expect one at your local Sainsbury’s just yet.
We did say the battery is arriving sooner than you think – it’s going to be in the new Denza Z9GT, which is an expensive new shooting brake thing from BYD’s fancy posh sub-brand. We can expect to hear more about that car in the next few weeks…
'What is BYD', you ask? Well, check out our guide to the company here.
The Denza Z9GT will be a super powerful flagship car for the next brand – a far cry from a Dolphin Surf supermini 
