Chinese automaker Geely Auto released the latest generation of self-developed lithium iron phosphate short blade battery that offers improved battery life, charging speed – and safety.
The New Short Blade EV Battery Technology uses a high-strength, high-thermal stability, high-heat-resistant diaphragm, with a highly stable separator paired with safe electrodes resulting in higher energy density and safety. In addition, Geely Auto has applied its self-developed Self-Fusing technology on the electrode surfaces to block short circuits in event of accidents. If the battery cell is punctured during extreme shock, an aluminum foil layer will fuse into the battery diaphragm to create an insulating layer, preventing short circuits and thermal runaway events.
To date, the standard automotive test for EV battery safety performance is the single needle puncture test, however Geely Auto has been testing the New Short Blade EV Battery Technology with eight simultaneous puncture needles, which significantly increase the amount of damage received in extreme crash situations. During testing, it was simultaneously punctured by eight steel needles in unison, each with a diameter of 5mm and left to stand for 1 hour with zero ill effects.
In addition, the New EV Battery Technology underwent a 5.8mm (5.8×42mm) infantry rifle bullet penetration test, with no thermal ignition events.
In addition to passing an 8-needle puncture test, Geely also put the New Short Blade EV Battery Technology through the industry’s first ‘Six Extremes” serial test that includes seawater corrosion immersion, extreme cold environment, high-frequency pack bottom scraping, 26-ton overweight rolling, single-pack side collision, and fire roasting. With the New Short Blade EV Battery Technology’s patented grid frame design, energy-absorbing cavity, three-layer sandwich bottom guard plate, CTB integration, thermal runaway control system, and multiple other safety features, the battery passed all six tests successfully.
Geely tested the New Short Blade EV Battery Technology in conditions exponentially higher than the industry standard. The results showed the New EV Battery Technology did not experience thermal runaway, smoke, ignition, or combustion in all cases. In addition, the insulation resistance values of the battery’s electrodes and sealed condition of the cells remained normal. The results speak for themselves showing the New Short Blade EV Battery remains safe and reliable in the most extreme conditions.
Using multi-element doped electrode materials, combined with the battery’s smaller size and low internal resistance has given the New Short Blade EV Battery Technology a reduced internal chemical reaction rate significantly extending the life of the battery.
According to Geely’s tests, the cycle life of the New Short Blade EV Battery Technology can reach 3,500 cycles, equivalent to charging and driving for 1 million kilometers with minimal impact to battery range. Based on the average family driving 20,000 kilometer a year, the New Short Blade EV Battery Technology can be in service for up to 50 years, significantly extending the usage life of the battery, improving the residual value of second hand EVs, and reducing carbon emissions by more than 80,000 tons a year.
The New Short Blade EV Battery Technology has effectively solved the problem of high internal resistance found in long blade batteries available on the market. Geely’s newest battery also uses long, thin carbon nanotubes to create a “highway” for ion transmission as well as additives to improve film permeability making it easier for lithium ions to travel between electrodes thereby greatly improving fast charging performance.
Test data show that in blade batteries with the same capacity, the 10-80% SOC average charging time of long blade battery is 26 minutes, with an average charging rate of 1.61C, with New Short Blade EV Battery Technology, the average time was 17 minutes 4 seconds with an average charging rate of 2.45C.
In addition, in extreme cold environments, the New EV Battery Technology has strong discharge capacity and longer driving range than long blade batteries. In ambient temperatures of -30℃, the capacity retention rate of long blade battery on average fell to 78.96% while the New Short Blade EV Battery Technology retained 90.54% of its capacity.