Photo/Zhang Yun (NBD)

Mar.30 (NBD) -- Chinese electric vehicle and battery maker BYD (002594.SZ) unveiled its blade battery online on Sunday, expecting to seek a way out in face of the onslaught of Tesla and CATL(300750.SZ).

The blade battery will be first applied to BYD's all-electric model "Han", which will be brought to market in June this year. As the latest self-developed lithium iron phosphate battery of BYD, the new product is 50 percent higher in energy capacity and 30 percent lower in costs in comparison with traditional iron battery, according to the company.

EV battery previously accounted for 50-60 percent of the cost of an electric car. With the advances of technologies, the costs of the EV batteries are reducing. In some models, the battery only accounts for 30 percent of the car's cost.

Besides, the blade battery will redefine safety standards for the entire industry, said BYD's chairman Wang Chuanfu.

However, electric car expert Sun Muzi said in a media interview that ternary lithium ion batteries still have higher energy density than lithium iron phosphate batteries. In terms of safety, the latter are safer theoretically, but not absolutely, as battery safety also relates to production process and quality control. 

It is noticed that amid the fierce competition, BYD is in dire need of a breakthrough to gain the lost ground. For various factors including subsidy cuts, BYD lost the first place in the EV battery market to CATL in June 2018 and was overtaken by Tesla as China's largest EV seller in February this year.

CATL has established partnerships with almost every mainstream auto manufacturers worldwide. Not long ago, the company said it is working with Tesla to equip made-in-China Telsa cars with cobalt-free batteries, which are also believed to be a kind of lithium iron phosphate batteries.

In comparison, BYD only had a few partners such as Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Changan Automobile. But "with the release of the blade battery, almost every auto-brand you can think of is in talks with us over the blade battery-based cooperation," the company's vice president He Long said on Sunday.

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn