Tesla Model Y with structural BYD battery > teslamag.de

New rumors emerged from China this week that local battery and electric car maker BYD would soon start supplying Tesla. In fact, teslamag.de was able to confirm that Battery from BYD at the German Gigafactory in Grunheide near Berlin located, so it looked like there was something in it. A partnership between the two companies was first reported over a year ago – and as it’s clear now, it could debut with the Model Y for Europe in the near future.

Structural Battery, Not Tesla

Because according to documents leaked on teslamag.de on Thursday, the Model Y with BYD batteries has already received type approval from the EU. As always with Tesla, the case was approved by the Dutch authority RDW on July 1, 2022. In the documents, the new Model Y is referred to as the Type 005 and internally as the Variant Y7CR. Its BYD battery capacity is estimated at 55 kWh, a range of 440 km.

It is kind of a step backwards. As of now, Tesla only sells the Model Y Long Range or Performance in Europe, but the addition, made last summer, also Rear-wheel drive and smaller battery variant Registered and approved by the European Union. As with the smallest Model 3, CATL was specified as the battery supplier, with capacity being 60 kWh for 455 km. With BYD, both are reducing somewhat. But technically the new battery is interesting because it is a “structural pack” as per EU approval.

A battery pack that is part of the supporting vehicle structure and therefore carries more than just additional weight, Tesla wanted to build in the German Model Y from the start, Then there was a delay in the production of batteries in its own 4680 format, and the Gigafactory began to use 2170 cells from China for conventional batteries. After that, Tesla was expected to switch to local or US-made 4680 batteries and packs, but with BYD the solution comes as a surprise. The Chinese company recently unveiled cell-to-body integration for its new Sealed electric car, similar to Tesla’s 4680 concept.

Model Y with battery life more efficient

In Thus the BYD SEAL should achieve a capacity of 82.5 kWh which has never been achieved before in LFP electric cars to be possible It was initially unclear why Tesla was initially satisfied with the even lower capacity for its Model Y, which is currently the case with long-registered CATL batteries. However, technological innovation could simplify production and bring at least one efficiency advantage: the 60 kilowatt-hour Model Y approved for the European Union last summer had an official test weight of 2153 kg. With a slightly smaller BYD battery, the weight drops by 66 kg to 2087 kg, and consumption drops slightly to 155 watt-hours per kilometer in the combined cycle.