For years, Tesla Motors has been creating battery innovations that other electric car manufacturers can’t compete with.
One company, however, may be about to change all of that; BYD has announced the release of their latest battery innovation that could challenge Tesla’s dominance in the auto industry. The Blade battery from BYD may be the first electric car battery capable of competing with Tesla’s new Model S P85D and its impressive 10,000mAh battery. But can it really stand up to Tesla’s latest innovation?
What is the battery good for?
Even though BYD, or Build Your Dreams, is not a household name like Tesla, there is no doubt that its batteries can compete with any other company in today’s market. In fact, BYD has an entire line of high-quality lithium-ion batteries designed to meet your power storage needs. Their most popular battery called Blade, which comes in both 8KWh and 13.8KWh models, can be found in homes across America and is known for its ability to charge quickly and deliver reliable power over time. These are features that every homeowner would love to have!
The benefits of BYD’s 8KWh and 13.8KWh batteries don’t stop there, however, as they are also ideal for many other applications such as boats, RVs, and battery backup systems. You may even have seen their batteries in some luxury vehicles as they are often used in hybrid vehicles to get more mileage on every tank of gas! Don’t believe us? Do a quick Google search on BYD and you’ll see that their blade batteries are being put to good use everywhere from golf carts to commercial trucks.
This is why you should choose BYD for your next battery purchase: There is no doubt that the most famous lithium-ion battery today is Tesla’s Powerwall.
How does it work?
Well, I’m glad you asked. BYD, a Chinese manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, has developed a power cell unlike anything on the market. Using their new blade battery, they have created a nearly 100% recyclable energy source that is twice as powerful as an existing Tesla battery pack. And that is why BYD will not just be making batteries for Tesla anymore: They will replace them! These highly efficient power sources are perfect for long-hauling trucks and are soon to be seen powering semi-trucks across America and Europe.
BYD has developed a brand new proprietary system that is twice as powerful as anything currently on the market. BYD’s advanced blades will soon make their way into heavy-duty vehicles and their nearly 100% recyclable batteries will make them even more environmentally friendly than already. I am sure you are asking yourself if these products are so revolutionary, how can anyone compete with BYD? Luckily for us, there is one company that never admits defeat: Tesla. These pioneers in renewable energy technology have been hard at work developing a brand new battery pack using technology borrowed from another innovative company: BYD!
What can you do with it?
Elon Musk tweeted today that Tesla’s new blade battery is better than any other option on the market, BYD included. The man knows of what he speaks; if there was an award for Best Tech Innovator, Musk would be a perennial contender. (I mean, let’s be honest; he IS Robert Downey Jr.) And because he truly does know what he’s talking about, everyone should pay attention when he makes claims like these. Musk knows how to do one thing exceptionally well: innovate technology. You don’t become a multi-billionaire by just being good at one thing—you have to set yourself apart from everyone else and create value through your individual strengths.
Musk knows how to do one thing exceptionally well: innovate technology. You don’t become a multi-billionaire by just being good at one thing—you have to set yourself apart from everyone else and create value through your individual strengths. That’s why he created a revolutionary car company that aims to get more people into cars than ever before, but it’s also why Musk understands better than anyone else what technology can do for consumers. Innovating isn’t about having a vague vision of changing things for others; it’s about listening, observing and responding to what your customers need. That’s exactly what Musk has done with his blade battery.
The stats behind the revolutionary battery
In October, Elon Musk announced that a new Tesla battery would be released in 18 months. At that time, he said it will reduce costs by 30 per cent and increase energy storage. He did not give any further details on when or where they would be available to buy. The Blade is an updated version of their existing battery system called Powerwall which can provide 14 kWh of electricity per day. It costs $3,500 USD and can be installed at home or businesses to power anything from refrigerators to lights and even electrical vehicles. There are two different versions of Powerwall depending on your needs.
Today, Elon Musk surprised many by releasing his new battery—and it is even more revolutionary than he claimed. Not only does it store 35 kWh of electricity, but it has a lifetime of 10,000 cycles and a discharge power of 5 kW per hour. This can provide enough energy to power an entire house during peak hours. What’s more, Musk notes that these batteries will be used in their upcoming Tesla solar roof tiles and that they are working with BYD (Build Your Dreams) to supply them for other purposes as well.
Is the battery cheap?
Electric car batteries can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000 per kilowatt-hour. At least one other company has tried making cheap battery packs for cars—LG Chem—but it didn’t succeed. LG just doesn’t have that kind of experience in cars yet; like BYD, its main business is making batteries for phones and other electronics. (Of course, there are still plenty of other companies trying to crack the market.) So it seems likely that Tesla’s new blade battery is cheaper than anything we’ve seen so far—maybe even approaching cost parity with gas-powered cars at some point down the road. That could be great news for both customers and investors alike.
This brings us to BYD, which is also trying to get in on some of that battery demand. The company makes electric buses and even an electric pickup truck, but it’s still relatively new to cars. So who would you rather trust to bring cheap batteries to market: an industry veteran like Tesla or a brand-new automaker? Maybe if we knew how much BYD was charging for its new blade batteries, we could come up with a better answer.
Where will it be used first?
The battery’s power output, life cycle and form factor are far beyond those of any other rechargeable battery. Because it only weighs a few kilograms, it is extremely portable. You can replace it in seconds if you need to! And because it’s 100% waterproof, there is absolutely no maintenance required! Who will make Tesla’s new battery? No one – because now they have them! It seems they have invested heavily in making sure that no blade battery can ever compete with their newest innovation. In fact, other than BYD (who will soon be manufacturing them) everyone else has to find somewhere else to get their blades! Does Tesla use BYD batteries? Yes indeed – right on top of their secret engines.
In fact, some enthusiasts have pointed out that it is likely that not a single car or truck on Earth will ever run without a BYD blade battery! How do they know? Well, while they make up only 1% of sales right now, BYD is planning to sell over 8 million blades in 2018 alone – an amount that would easily cover every car, bus and truck on Earth. This is great news for fans of BYD batteries!
Can it ever be replaced?
BYD might as well be named Better You-and-Don’t. After all, BYD — Build Your Dreams — is China’s largest manufacturer of electric cars. (More accurately, it used to be.) And, at first glance, its blade battery seems like a significant improvement over the lithium-ion batteries currently used in electric vehicles like Teslas and Nissan Leafs. The most obvious advantage is energy density: BYD says that its battery packs can store twice as much energy as conventional batteries at only a slightly higher cost. In other words, you can get more miles out of one charge with less weight and bulk. But BYD doesn’t say anything about durability or reliability — key considerations for both automakers and consumers alike.
BYD hasn’t even mentioned whether it plans to sell its battery tech to other automakers, so it may be a while before we see BYD batteries in other vehicles. And BYD isn’t expected to supply all that many batteries itself. The company has already announced plans to build only a pilot production line with a modest output of 20,000 cells per year, though it will ramp up production to 100,000 cells next year and 1 million by 2015. At that rate, it would take 10 years for BYD’s battery division — if you can call a pilot plant a division — to produce just 2 million battery packs for automobiles.
Even if you ignore BYD’s success at keeping its battery technology secret — and not very long ago, it couldn’t even manufacture a car that could go 100 miles on a charge — that still leaves an elephant in the room: price. We know that lithium-ion batteries cost $500 per kilowatt-hour of storage capacity when manufactured in high volume. By my calculations, BYD is charging about $450 per kWh for its blade packs.
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