BYD D1 is a very interesting electric MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) that gets a cobalt-free LFP battery.
With a sliding door on the right and two normal doors on the left this is an electric vehicle especially made for families with kids and ride-hailing services.
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, the company that bought Uber’s China business in 2016 will use this model. According to Moneyball, Didi plans to put 10.000 D1 units in service already this year – between October and December – and 100.000 units in 2021.
#BYD D1 #EV approved for #China sales last month is the model ordered by #Didi ride-hailing #EV service, local media citing unnamed inside source.
Didi plans to put 10K D1 units in service Oct-Dec and 100K units in 2021. D1 to use #LFP blade #battery, source added. pic.twitter.com/PPjs7y3jd7— Moneyball (@DKurac) September 21, 2020
The specs of this electric vehicle were already made available by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
BYD D1 specs
In a more realistic test cycle such as the WLTP, the range would be around 310 km (193 miles) and the consumption around 17 kWh/100 km.
While not mentioned in MIIT’s website, the battery capacity seems to be 47,5 kWh as shown in the slide below.
BYD unveils the volumetric and gravimetric cell-to-pack ratio of the new battery packs
Let’s do the math.
418 km – X
100 km – 12,8 kWh
X = 418 km x 12,8 kWh / 100 km = 53,5 kWh
We need to consider that consumption under NEDC includes charging losses.
So we have to use 53,5 kWh from the electrical grid to completely charge the battery. If the battery is 47,5 kWh as I think, it means that the charging efficiency of the on-board charger is 89 %, which seems about right.
BYD D1 from different angles
As it was briefly discussed in the comment section of a previous article, BYD can switch to cobalt-free CTP battery packs much faster than most automakers. Mainly because it produces its own battery cells and battery packs, therefore it doesn’t have any contracts to honor with external suppliers.
Currently BYD is putting its Blade Battery packs in models that have bigger batteries, where replacing NCM with cobalt-free LFP represents more savings, but I expect that these packs will eventually come to more affordable models such as the e1 and e2 that have smaller batteries.
I think that by next year all BYD electric cars will be made with cobalt-free batteries. Then exporting electric cars to other markets such as Europe or North America can happen in full force. In the long run, BYD will eventually produce its electric cars locally in different continents.
Anyway, I remember the old days when the sluggish BYD e6 was the electric car aimed to serve as a taxi. This BYD D1 seems to be a much better vehicle and I hope to see it in Europe someday.
Which BYD model do you think that will be next to get the Blade Battery?
