Battery an 'important milestone' for BYD

Shenzhen-based electric carmaker BYD has announced it will launch its blade battery for electric vehicles on Sunday.

It described the technology as an important milestone for the company.

At the China EV 100 Forum 2020 in January, BYD Founder and Chairman Wang Chuanfu said the blade was a new generation of lithium iron phosphate battery that would be mass-produced this year. Its shape is flat like a blade, hence the name.

The battery's energy density per unit of volume is 50 percent higher than that of traditional iron batteries. Wang said it was also safer and offered electric vehicles a longer range. 

BYD's Han electric car will be the first vehicle to be equipped with the blade battery. It is due to be launched in June and will have a range of more than 600 kilometers, the company said. 

The blade battery is expected to reduce costs by 20 to 30 percent compared with the previous battery, it said.

Earlier this month, BYD announced the establishment of five subsidiaries, focusing on different products and technologies, in a bid to speed up sales of components for electric vehicles.