BYD Releases 10C Fast-Charging Battery

On the evening of March 17th, BYD officially released a new generation of blade battery technology and named it “Megawatt Flash Charge”, refreshing the industry standard with 10C ultra-high rate fast charging capability and 1000A ultra-high current. Under the 1000V high-voltage architecture, MW flash charging can realize “10 seconds to replenish 20 kilometers, 5 minutes range of 400 kilometers”, calling for the opening of a new phase of “fuel and electricity at the same speed”.

The competition for electric vehicle replenishment has thus entered a white-hot stage. The second generation of blade technology not only shows the huge potential of lithium iron phosphate battery in the field of fast charging, but also puts forward higher requirements for battery enterprises, charging infrastructure builders and other car companies. BYD’s move signals that the industry will compete more fiercely around higher-frequency fast-charging technology and diversified energy replenishment ecosystems.

The 10C flash charging technology released by BYD is not just an upgrade of the battery alone, but a whole set of ecosystems covering batteries, vehicles and charging facilities.

At the battery level, the most notable change in the second-generation blade battery is the shift from the original long-blade design to a short-blade design (561 mm to 580 mm in length), a change that effectively reduces the internal resistance of the battery.

In order to further improve charging performance, BYD has also made technical innovations in several key aspects of the battery.

The first is the optimization of the cathode and anode material systems. For the cathode, BYD continues to use the lithium iron phosphate system, but has adjusted the material formula and adopted the second-generation carbon nanotubes mixed with carbon black as the conductive agent program, and increased the amount of additives to further enhance the conductive properties to support high-current rapid charging.

For the anode, BYD has adopted conductive polymer coating technology to improve conductivity and remove fine particles in the anode material to improve the battery’s cycling and storage performance at high temperatures.

Other research sources indicate that BYD uses high porosity wet-coated diaphragms in its second-generation blade batteries, and adds about 4% of the new lithium salt LiFSI to the electrolyte in conjunction with the use of a specific percentage of carbonate solvent to improve the ionic conductivity of the electrolyte, especially for more efficient fast charging at low temperatures.

In order to reduce the polarization effect inside the battery and improve fast charging performance, BYD has also carbon coated the battery’s collector (including copper and aluminum foils). The carbon coating improves the conductivity of the collector and reduces the obstruction of electrons during transmission. At the same time, BYD has adopted a double tab design inside the battery cells, which is designed to more effectively reduce the heat generated during the charging and discharging process.

In order to more comprehensively cope with the higher heat generation brought about by rapid charging, BYD has upgraded the thermal management system of the battery from the original refrigerant direct cooling technology to the first three-dimensional runner composite temperature control system. The system has a dense network of refrigerant runners on both the top and bottom of the battery, which improves the heat transfer performance by up to 90%, and is able to quickly remove the heat generated by megawatt-level charging. The refrigerant weighs only 1 kilogram, much lighter than traditional coolant, and completely non-conductive, reducing the safety risk of battery coolant leakage.

It is also worth noting that some industry insiders believe that BYD has adopted a pre-heating strategy in its second-generation blade batteries, i.e., pre-heating the batteries to the appropriate temperature range (e.g., 35 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius) before charging begins to reduce the internal resistance of the batteries, thus improving the charging efficiency of lithium iron phosphate batteries.

At the system level, BYD has adopted CTB (Cell-to-Body) technology, which deeply integrates the battery with the body structure, further optimizing space utilization and structural strength.

In order to fully utilize the potential of the 10C battery, BYD has also adopted a 1000V full-area high-voltage architecture at the vehicle level. This high-voltage platform covers key components such as the battery, motor, power supply and air conditioning, laying the foundation for realizing charging power of up to 1,000 kW. This requires upgrades to charging modules such as on-board chargers, high-voltage distribution boxes, and the use of silicon carbide power modules to accommodate higher voltage and current requirements.

Finally, BYD is completing the ecological loop by building its own “megawatt flash charging stations”. The company plans to build more than 4,000 of these stations, equipped with a self-developed liquid-cooled charging system with a maximum charging power of 1,360 kilowatts. These charging stations will be equipped with dual charging guns and intelligent power distribution functions, and will be provided with lightweight and easy-to-use liquid-cooled charging guns.

Considering the limitations of the power grid load in some areas, BYD is also developing a supporting energy storage system to ensure the stable operation of the flash charging network. In addition, BYD is also improving the utilization rate of existing charging piles through technological innovation, so that users can also experience faster charging speeds in more scenarios.

Considering the limitations of power grid load in some areas, BYD is also developing supporting energy storage systems to ensure the stable operation of the flash charging network. In addition, BYD is also improving the utilization rate of existing charging piles through technological innovation, so that users can also experience faster charging speeds in more scenarios.

For a long time, breakthroughs in high-rate performance have mainly focused on discharge capacity, and realizing high-rate charging poses a serious technical challenge to the industry. The 10C flash charging system released by BYD is undoubtedly a breakthrough iteration of fast charging from the battery to the ecological level.

BYD’s 10C flash charging technology has not only set up a new benchmark for the charging speed of electric vehicles, but also further narrowed the gap between electric vehicles and fuel vehicles in terms of energy replenishment experience, and continued its strategy of promoting “the same price for oil and electricity” in terms of price. However, the full popularization of 10C charging technology is not a one-step process, which not only involves breakthroughs in electric core technology, but also puts forward higher requirements for system integration and cost control.