Today Geely released its latest generation self-developed and self-produced Aegis battery. Known as the short knife, or dagger, battery it takes a similar approach to BYD’s well-known blade battery. A lithium iron phosphate battery the new generation pushes the boundaries with regards to safety, cycle life, fast charging capacity and low-temperature discharge performance.
Most importantly energy density is now 192 Wh/kg which is comparable to ternary lithium batteries. The battery is shorter, only 580 mm long compared to the 960 mm length which is more common on the market. In addition, the volume is more compact so helping increase the energy density.
Geely at the press conference was keen to emphasize the safety test results of the battery. For a long time the nail test has been BYD’s party piece but it seems that Geely is now getting in on the trick as well. After 7 minutes 55 seconds there was no fire, no explosion, no smoke and the surface temperature of the battery did not exceed 40°C. A similar result was achieved when the battery pack was immersed in seawater. With the three-sided drop and heavy hit the battery was then left for 2 hours without any adverse reaction. Other tests were similarly passed with flying colors.
Geely has reportedly applied for the registration of “Geely bulletproof batteries” and “Aegis bulletproof batteries” trademarks, internationally classified as Class 9. Geely claims the batteries have a military-grade safety level.
The new generation Aegis battery will debut on the Geely Galaxy E5 which will launch in early August. They will feature in both the 49.52 and 60.22 kWh packs delivering 440 and 530 kilometers CLTC range respectively. Also featured on the car is the Galaxy 11-in-1 intelligent electric drive system, and the E5 will have power consumption as low as 11.9 kWh/100 km.
Editor’s note:
Geely despite trying with its Blue Geely Initiative, announced in 2015, struggled until recently to make the switch to new energy vehicles. Now, however, the rivalry between Geely and BYD is really hotting up as evidenced recently by the war of words over BYD’s DM 5.0 system. The new generation Aegis battery seems a preemptive strike against BYD’s second generation blade battery which should be arriving soon.
Sources: Autohome, Fast Technology, PHP
