CT scans of BYD car parts

The cell that made BYD famous is the Blade: a long, thin Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) prismatic designed to lay flat across a vehicle floor, with the cells themselves forming part of the car s structure rather than sitting inside a separate enclosure. This prismatic cell is NOT a Blade, but it does share the same chemistry. LFP trades some energy density against the lithium-ion chemistries that dominate Western EV packs, but it runs cooler, tolerates more charge cycles, and replaces the nickel, manganese, and cobalt used in other chemistries with iron. That substitution is what gives LFP its stability, as well as cost and supply chain advantages. While Tesla sources cells from Panasonic and LG and most Western automakers buy from dedicated battery suppliers, BYD designs and manufactures its own, from chemistry to finished pack.