A few month ago, it came out that construction giant XCMG was going to use BYD batteries to electrify its products. A JV for battery plant was established in Xuzhou which will produce 15 GWh of batteries a year. The first phase of this JV had Capacity of 6 GWh and will be produced in 10 different types. It was designed to be an extremely automated factory like all of BYD/Fudi’s other recent plants.
Later on, XCMG showcased a series of product along certain timeline that would result in different products installed with battery packs from 20-96KWh of battery
All of which sounded good, but this is clearly not enough for the heavy machineries that XCMG was producing
Unlike PVs, commercial vehicles need extremely large battery packs to function and the ability charge them as fast as smaller cars. Without this, trucks and construction machineries simply cannot work for the full day or half a day before fast charging during lunch break. There would be no way for these machines to replace ICE machines.
A few days ago, Chinese social media videos showed a new generation of BYD battery cells (aka Blade 2.0) with energy density of 217Wh/kg at cell level. This compared favorably to 168-175Wh/kg for Blade 1.0 which yielded pack level density of 140-150Wh/kg. Long blade battery used in Blade 1.0 packed battery cells densely in a way where pack level energy density remained 80-85% that of cell level density. This along with innovations like CTB allowed BYD to retain long enough range against other EVs using CATL’s NCM battery chemistry.
Just this week, a photo came out showcasing BYD’s battery for XCMG
This was extraordinary in many ways. It operated at 614V here but can operate between 384-710V. It supported maximum flow of 1000A, which means it can support 614KW fast charging if it ever found a charger of >= 600V and >= 1000A + OBC/platform that was > 600V
It had battery capacity of 982Ah and 603KWh. According to specs, it also had energy density level of > 165Wh/Kg. Which mean it is likely to be using Blade 2.0 battery cells. The energy density level reminded of BYD’s LMFP cylindrical battery MFC4680 which achieved energy density of 168Wh/Kg
It is quite likely that BYD’s Blade 2.0 cells are using LMFP chemistry to achieve higher density than Blade 1.0 while retaining its high safety features.
More interesting is the lower ratio of pack to cell density compared to Blade 1.0. If XCMG battery energy density is 170Wh/Kg, then ratio to cell density level would be ~78% vs ~83% for Blade 1.0.
Why is BYD lowering that ratio, which somewhat increase the weight and cost of the pack? I think big reason here is support for fast charging speed. Based on what I read previously, you need short blades to achieve higher charging speed. However, short blades are inherently less dense than long blade. Since 170Wh/kg at pack level is already dense enough, other factors like fast charging, performance in extreme cold/hot and charge cycles become very important. In fact, the spec of XCMG battery shows it can operate between -30 and 60 deg Celsius. That’s pretty important for adoption of XCMG electric construction equipments across the world.
So, what does this mean? Well, we have already seen that refreshed Tang will have > 100KWh battery pack, so I think other flagship mass models like Han, Seal and Song L will see that too once they get refreshed. U9 also apparently will have 100KWh battery pack. Along with improved CTB tech, BYD should achieve similar density level to other automakers using NCM battery chemistry that may not be packed in a way where battery cells save as much structural weight. At the same time, we may see 5C or 6C charging with Blade 2.0 that we' have already seen on MEGA and also advertised with other battery makers.
This is a nice interim point before we get to solid state battery in another 2 to 3 years.
Thank you for interesting information as always! Do you think there will be only one type of blade 2.0 battery or many variations?
From what I read on the refreshed Tang it has a 108kwh battery and 190kw top charging speed if I ain't wrong on the maths that translates closer to 2C charging than 5-6C. Keeping the larger pack up with earlier versions charging of 30-80% in about 30 min.
If the way I calculate is right then the XCMG pack of 603kw and a charging speed of 614kwh translate to about 1C charging on that particular pack.
Is it sure another type of pack as in the U9 could retain the same charging speed even though the battery pack is so much smaller and maybe have other constrictions on form than in a construction machine?