EVs From Maruti Suzuki and Toyota India Will be Equipped With the Newest BYD Blade Cell Technology.

Maruti Suzuki and Toyota are planning to enter the electric vehicle market in India, with a midsize SUV as their initial model. The SUV will have cutting-edge Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries and will be built on a brand-new, all-electric architecture from the bottom up. The 'Blade' batteries are made by BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, and the Maruti-Toyota alliance expects that the battery technology would offer it an advantage in the cost-conscious Indian market.

What Exactly are BYD Blade Batteries?

The most common Li-ion battery chemistries are lithium 'metal' oxide (where the metal can be NMC [nickel-manganese-cobalt] or NCA [nickel-cobalt-aluminum], among others) and lithium ferrous phosphate (where the metal can be NMC [nickel-manganese-cobalt] or NCA [nickel-cobalt-aluminum], among others) (LFP). While NMC batteries have remained the preferred choice of Western automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, and Ford, Chinese automakers have embraced the LFP chemistry. The LFP chemistry is used in BYD's Blade batteries. Each cell is prismatic (read: cuboidal) and extremely long, measuring 96cm in length, 9cm in height, and just 1.35cm in thickness. BYD, on the other hand, believes that its Blade batteries outperform traditional LFP cells.