BYD's hexagonal prism battery comes out

The development of China's new energy in the past 20 years has not been as rapid as the last two years. As one of the "three major components" of electric vehicles, batteries are undergoing wave after wave of revolutionary evolution. The most shocking thing is the huge industrial effect caused by BYD's launch of blade batteries. Later, GAC Aion launched the "magazine battery", and CATL also launched the "Kirin battery". These are current top battery technologies .

Just two years after the blade battery was launched, news came: on January 30, BYD’s hexagonal prismatic battery came out.

In August 2022, BYD announced new battery patent types, and cylindrical hexagonal prismatic batteries emerged in response to the trend. Judging from the patent drawings released, this new battery is very different from the common square batteries and cylindrical batteries. The single cell of the battery is in the shape of a hexagonal prism. It is believed that it obtains bionics from the honeycomb structure. Inspiration - The biggest advantage of this design is that it is more conducive to the close fit between batteries and improves the space utilization and energy density of the battery pack.

In fact, starting from the blade battery, we are looking for room for improvement from the internal physical structure of the battery to improve energy density and utilization. This time, BYD seems to be starting from the physical structure again to "squeeze" higher performance utilization.

According to the data on the patent, the height of the entire casing (cover + casing) is between 60 and 150mm, which is almost half the size of an Apple mobile phone . The diameter of the inscribed circle of the shell is between 15 and 60mm. It is worth mentioning that the patent also mentions: "The height of the casing can be 90mm, and the diameter of the inscribed circle can be 40mm." According to the battery naming rules, we can call this battery "4090 battery." For reference, the Tesla 4680 battery has a height of 80mm and a diameter of 46mm. Therefore, compared with Tesla's 4680 battery, BYD's hexagonal prismatic battery will appear "tall and thin."

Speaking of the Tesla 4680 battery, to be honest, it can be said to be the most advanced battery currently due to its exquisite design and complex process. The 4680 battery based on ternary high-nickel materials, when installed in Tesla cars, can enable the charging speed to reach the 200kW level, and the zero-to-hundred acceleration performance can reach the fastest 2s level.

So is BYD’s 4090 battery a real rival to Tesla’s 4680 battery? Let's simply make a comparison.

Let’s talk about the similarities first. Both 4090 and 4680 batteries will use CPC technology, which is a module-less solution. The entire battery pack is full of batteries. There is no tic-tac-toe basic frame. The batteries will use side heat dissipation, which is more efficient. The entire vehicle The performance will be better.

Let’s talk about the differences. First of all, in terms of structural strength, when 4680 cylindrical single cells are combined together, the space between two adjacent cylindrical single cells is larger, which will make the mechanical stability of the cylindrical battery pack insufficient. Vibration or impact may cause short circuit or damage, seriously affecting the safety of the vehicle. The hexagonal prism "4090 battery", after being grouped, forms a honeycomb shape, so that there are no gaps in front of the battery cells, which is equivalent to "taking the hardness out of the group", thereby improving the structural strength of the battery pack.

In addition, there is news that the shell material of the hexagonal prism "4090 battery" may be made of aluminum alloy. This can not only ensure the strength of the power battery, but also reduce the weight of the battery pack. The significance of this high-strength battery pack is not only in terms of safety, but may also be BYD's future development trend.

In addition, the 4680 cylindrical single cell and the hexagonal prism 4090 battery also have different properties in other aspects. When we talked about the honeycomb structure before, we mentioned that due to the hexagonal structure, there is more space inside than the circle. Therefore, the "4090 battery" using hexagonal prisms is willing to accommodate more electrolyte to extend the service life of the pole core. At the same time, when multiple batteries are connected into a battery module, it also effectively improves the utilization of external space.

In addition, the two batteries also have completely different structures in the positive and negative electrode plates of the battery cells. Tesla’s 4680 battery uses a pole-less lug solution. The internal process is very complex and manufacturing is very difficult. The tabs of the 4090 battery are more obvious. The rectangular box is the positive electrode, and the cylinder in the middle is the negative electrode. The positive and negative electrodes are separated by a height difference.

The above are the results obtained by comparing the patent information disclosed so far. In addition to these patent information, some netizens also left many questions about BYD 4090 batteries. For example, although the manufacturing difficulty has been reduced, in terms of performance, 4090 Can the battery reach the same level as the 4680 battery? Another example is what kind of battery material will BYD 4090 battery use? If ternary materials are used, can they be as safe as blade batteries? For example, will BYD actually mass-produce this kind of battery on multiple models? Of course, the ultimate question is whether the 4090 battery can bring as shocking success as the blade battery? But in any case, BYD's development of battery technology will not be limited to blade batteries. In the future, blade batteries and hexagonal prism batteries may become the "double cannon" of China's independent batteries.