A battery touted as having a decades-long lifespan has had a tortuous path to market. In fact, Geely's vetting process sounds fit for the pages of "Dante's Inferno."
There's an eight-needle puncture test, in addition to the company's vaunted "Six Extremes": seawater corrosion immersion; exposure to extreme cold; high-frequency pack bottom scraping; 26-ton overweight rolling; single-pack side collision; and fire roasting (of course).
"The results speak for themselves showing the New Short Blade EV Battery remains safe and reliable in the most extreme conditions," the China-based experts wrote in a press release.
The big news is how all of this carnage will translate for consumers. The lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) power pack, dubbed the Short Blade, hits on major metrics. Geely, the parent company of Volvo and other brands including Polestar and Lotus, said it has "best in class" battery life, charge speed, and safety. Per the press release, better safety is achieved with a special Geely design with self-fusing electrode surfaces, preventing short circuits during accidents.
Wrecks involving lithium-ion batteries — the currently standard EV battery type that is related to, but different from LFP cells — can lead to rare, though severe fires, as CNN has reported.
"Geely tested the … technology in conditions exponentially higher than the industry standard," according to the company.
What's more, the experts claim the battery can power a ride for more than 600,000 miles during a lifetime of up to 50 years. The long life is in part intended to boost the used EV sales market, per Geely.
The company press release provides lengthy details on some of the improvements happening inside the pack.
When lithium-ion batteries operate, ions move between the anode and cathode, through a substance called electrolyte, the U.S. Department of Energy explains. The technology type of the Geely battery, with LFP chemistry (as explained by First Phosphate), uses cheaper, readily available iron in the works instead of more expensive metals. Chinese battery giant CATL is also developing the science.
Long, thin carbon nanotubes "create a 'highway' for ion transmission," per Geely. Other additives help ions move during operation, aiding charging performance. The company reports that the pack can charge to 80% in under 20 minutes.
Other battery breakthroughs are promising even faster charge speeds. The U.K.'s Nyobolt, for example, touts a pack that can provide 155 miles of range in six minutes.
Attempting to boost the already expanding used EV market with lengthy battery lifespans might be among the biggest of Geely's recent advances. Used EVs are already cheaper in some cases than gas cars, according to CNBC. Switching to an EV has multiple benefits, including saving about $1,500 a year on gas and maintenance. Thousands of pounds of air pollution can also be avoided each year, as noted by the U.S. Energy Department. Government health experts have associated exhaust from gas-burners to increased cancer risk and other medical ailments.
Next up for Geely is including the new battery tech in its Galaxy E5 SUV, before rolling it out to other models. The E5 is built to compete with the Tesla Model Y, according to Interesting Engineering and ArenaEV.
"This technology ... addresses various concerns about electric cars beyond their price," IE's Bojan Stojkovski wrote.
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