- BYD will produce both generations of blade batteries, aiming to provide customers with more options and maintain pricing flexibility.
- BYD hopes to reverse months of consecutive sales declines by deploying its new ultra-fast charging technology.
BYD will continue to produce its first-generation blade battery, which will coexist in the market alongside the newly released ultra-fast charging version.
Li Yunfei, general manager of BYD's branding and public relations division, revealed the plan during a recent media communication, saying the move is to provide customers with more options, according to a report by local media Sina Tech on Monday.
The company officially launched its second-generation blade battery and flash-charging technology on March 5. The new tech can charge a battery from 10% to 97% in just nine minutes.
Although the new technology sets an industry record for charging speed, the older battery will not be phased out. Li noted that production of the first-generation blade battery will not stop. "We want to give customers more choices," he said.
This dual-product-line strategy may be partly tied to recent fluctuations in supply chain costs, as Li noted that battery raw material prices have been rising in recent months.
As a result, the first batch of 10 vehicle models equipped with the new-generation battery technology will face price adjustments and will be repriced based on the latest manufacturing costs, he said.
To support the commercial rollout of the new battery, BYD is investing heavily in charging infrastructure, with plans to build 20,000 flash-charging stations by the end of this year.
For the deployment of urban public charging stations, BYD has introduced an asset-light model. The system requires only three parking spaces and eliminates the need for grid capacity expansion or foundation excavation.
Li said the installation is as simple as setting up an air conditioner. The approach aims to revitalize existing idle resources and is of great significance in driving the replacement of internal combustion engine vehicles with electric ones.
BYD is currently facing the challenge of a six-month consecutive sales decline, including a sharp drop in February, amid relatively weak overall industry performance in the first two months of the year.
Despite these headwinds, Li remains confident in future market performance, expecting the company to accelerate its recovery in the second quarter as the new technologies are rolled out.
