Blade batteries are finally commercially available, BYD's "Han" will take on Tesla

"Tesla has played its cards, and it's our turn to play," said Zhao Changjiang, general manager of BYD Auto Sales Co., Ltd. in May 2020.

Although BYD and Tesla entered the new energy market at the same time in 2003, for a long time, due to different product positioning, the two companies did not have much overlap in the new energy market.

However, as household demand gradually heats up, Tesla built a factory in China in 2019 and launched the affordable version of Model 3, BYD's market began to be eroded. EV sales data show that in 2019, Tesla's global shipments reached 367,500 vehicles, higher than BYD's 229,500 vehicles. In addition, data compiled by Kevin Rooke shows that Tesla's year-on-year shipment growth rate can reach 60%, while BYD's is only 37.5%.

Therefore, BYD launched the "Han" series in 2020. Although it is just a name, combined with the groundbreaking product features of the "Qin" series, it is named after the Han Dynasty that defeated the Huns in the north, conquered Goryeo in the east, conquered Nanyue, and pacified the Western Qiang. It seems to indicate that BYD has high hopes for the "Han" series to "conquer foreign enemies."

"Han" drives Tesla

Under the influence of the new subsidy policy in 2020, the price of high-volume new energy flagship sedans is basically limited to less than 300,000 yuan. For example, the Tesla Model 3 was originally sold for 320,000 yuan, but in order to take advantage of the subsidy, the price was proactively reduced to 270,000 yuan.

Considering that Tesla Model 3 is very popular in the price range of 250,000-300,000 yuan, BYD has set the price range to 219,800-279,500 yuan. This is obviously a game of "Tian Ji's horse racing".

What’s interesting is that in order to highlight Tesla’s weakness, BYD did not use high-end horses to compete with Tesla’s medium-end horses, but instead took the initiative to move up a product segment, thereby creating the product characteristics of Tesla’s low-end horses.

For example, unlike Tesla's minimalist style, BYD Han uses ancient Chinese architecture as inspiration to create a "new Chinese luxury" interior. The sharp front face of the Dragon Face, the streamlined side of the dragon entering the sea, and the through-type dragon claw taillights create a strong visual impact.

In terms of materials, BYD Han uses Nappa leather to wrap the seats, and adds high-grade materials such as natural wood and real aluminum in the details, making the whole vehicle extremely classy.

Of course, Tesla's biggest advantage is its sci-fi technology. This is also the focus of BYD Han - through cooperation with Huawei, it has added HiCar technology and NFC unlocking, and has also become the world's first new energy vehicle to use Huawei's 5G technology. In addition, BYD Han is also equipped with BYD's self-developed L2.5 DiPilot intelligent driving assistance system, which can bring a unique automatic assisted driving experience.

In terms of batteries, the core technology of new energy vehicles, BYD is also outflanking Tesla. BYD Han is equipped with BYD's latest lithium iron phosphate product - blade batteries, which are more stable and safer than the traditional ternary lithium batteries used by Tesla and other first-tier new energy vehicles. Wang Chuanfu once said that "blade batteries can erase "spontaneous combustion" from the dictionary of electric vehicles."

On the other hand, Tesla's products have repeatedly caught fire since entering the Chinese market. According to media statistics, Tesla cars caught fire six times in China in 2019, an average of once every two months.

In addition to being safe, Han's blade battery can be charged and discharged 3,000 times in a cycle, and has an ultra-long battery life of 1.2 million kilometers. It is for this reason that Han has become the new energy pure electric vehicle with the longest design life in the world.

In terms of parameters, the Han EV long-range version offers a battery pack of up to 70kWh and a NEDC range of 605 kilometers; the four-wheel drive pure electric version can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds.

Although there is still a slight gap between BYD Han and Tesla Model 3 in some parameters, it cannot be ignored that the price of BYD Han itself is one level lower than that of Tesla Model 3. In addition, BYD Han's blade battery is safer and has a longer life. Considering the two factors, BYD Han's overall configuration is actually more competitive than Tesla Model 3.

In particular, we must note that the Tesla Model 3 is so popular in the 250,000-300,000 yuan price range, not because of its excellent performance, but more because of the contrast with its peers. For example, the Tesla Model 3 has been criticized by domestic users for its low configuration, poor interior, and the replacement of accessories.

At this time, BYD Han, which is priced lower than Tesla Model 3 and has a slightly higher comprehensive configuration than Tesla Model 3, came out. There is no doubt that it will form a strong constraint on Tesla Model 3. This can be seen from the fact that the number of reservations for BYD Han exceeded 20,000 after only two months of being open for reservations.

BYD breaks through

I believe that after seeing the BYD Han, everyone will have a question, that is, how can BYD Han lower the price of the product to 200,000 yuan on the basis of being equipped with new technology and luxurious configuration?

The technology and cost involved in this issue are the key to BYD Han's breakthrough.

First, from a technical perspective, as a long-established new energy vehicle company, BYD has been working on new energy vehicle battery technology. For example, as early as 2005, BYD's lithium iron phosphate power battery amazed the industry.

Unfortunately, in the vicious competition that followed, many new energy vehicle manufacturers turned to ternary lithium batteries, which was a bit of a "reversal". BYD had long realized that as the cost of materials became higher and higher, the overall cost of ternary lithium batteries would inevitably rise, and because of its inherent deficiencies in safety, ternary lithium batteries would definitely not be the future. Therefore, BYD devoted itself to researching new battery technology.

Finally, we saw the blade battery installed in BYD Han. According to BYD, due to the use of a new assembly process, the volume energy density of the blade battery has increased by 50% compared to traditional batteries. In layman's terms, the blade battery has the advantages of both the high energy density of ternary lithium batteries and the strong stability of lithium iron phosphate batteries.

On the other hand, Wang Chuanfu once publicly stated that the core of future competition in new energy vehicles will be cost competition. Therefore, BYD has always adopted a closed industrial chain model. It is understood that after adopting this model, BYD's comprehensive cost is only about 80% of that of traditional electronic companies, and the development cycle can be shortened by up to 2/3 compared with European and American companies.

In contrast, Tesla has been burning money like crazy since its establishment 17 years ago, and lost $976 million in 2019 alone. Considering that new energy vehicles are a marathon-like competition, it is clear at a glance which model is more sustainable when compared between BYD and Tesla.

It is worth noting that the closed industrial chain model does not mean that BYD is "closing its doors to the outside world". On the contrary, BYD has also opened up its blade battery technology by establishing five "Fudi" companies. He Long, vice president of BYD Group and chairman of Fudi Battery, once said that "almost all car brands that can be thought of are discussing cooperation plans based on blade battery technology with BYD."

Since blade batteries make up for the shortcomings of ternary lithium batteries, it is foreseeable that more and more players will gather around BYD, and this may also boost BYD's power battery supply data, forming a very complete virtuous circle and further reducing the manufacturing cost of BYD cars.

Back to the products, we can find that although BYD's shipments were overtaken by Tesla in 2019, this was largely the result of BYD's products and core technologies failing to keep up and Tesla being too strong.

The launch of BYD Han is undoubtedly a "trump card" thrown by BYD - whether it is the blade battery or the relatively low price, almost every move hits Tesla's weak spot.

Considering that Tesla has "played all its cards", or there will be no new major moves for a while, BYD Han, which has relative advantages in both technology and price, will undoubtedly redefine the market landscape of new energy vehicles.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.