We know: even if technologies exist to limit damage, the ecological balance sheet of electric car batteries is not the most flattering. BYD, Tesla’s biggest competitor, however, decided to drive the point home by shipping packs to Europe… by air, instead of the sea freight usually used. But why ?
At the question ” is an electric car clean“, we would be tempted to answer that a car of this type actually emits less pollutant than a thermal car during its life cycle… but that everything is not perfect. Batteries, in particular, have an environmental cost which cannot be excluded, and which can sometimes also be accompanied by human costs if the extraction of certain materials is not done in good conditions – we are thinking here of mines of cobalt.
But if certain technologies exist to, for example, limit the supply of controversial materials (such as sodium batteries, devoid of lithium, cobalt or manganese), some players are moving in the opposite direction. BYD sent its first packs between China and Europe by air last week, we learn. CNEVpost.
And what’s more, it’s complicated
To do this, FinDreams, the BYD entity in charge of manufacturing batteries, had to be more ingenious. The air transport of lithium-ion batteries is, in fact, extremely regulated for safety reasons: if a battery exceeds 35 kg, the person transporting it must request an exemption and prove that their battery is safe by passing it several times. tests, in particular to limit the risk of fire.
And because the batteries shipped weighed 300 kg, FinDreams had to develop “explosion-resistant” packaging and put the packs through simulated heating, all supervised by civil aviation hazardous products experts. The tests were clearly conclusive, since the flight took place without a hitch.
For who ?
More precisely, the batteries took a flight operated by SF Airlines from the Hubei region in China, around Wuhan, to land in Frankfurt. And if FinDreams has not communicated on the final recipient of these packs, we cannot help but think of Tesla, which has a factory in Berlin where Model Y equipped with batteries are manufactured… BYD (with absolutely remarkable properties, as we have seen).
FinDreams seems happy, anyway. “The success of this mission constitutes an important step for the transport of electric batteries in China”he announced, before continuing: “this decision lays the foundation for the standardization and standardization of air transport of electric batteries, providing data support and a successful argument for the product to benefit from more efficient transport channels”. Yay.
Let’s think local
This decision, to say the least disturbing on an environmental level due to air transport emissions, is all the more strange as it goes completely against the latest announcements from the Chinese battery giants. CATL announced last September the construction of a new factory in Europe dedicated to the manufacture of a revolutionary battery, while a factory is already operating in Germany and another is under construction in Hungary.
Even closer to us, we are obviously thinking of the ACC gigafactory in the North, in Douvrin, which should release its first cells next summer. One example among others, as there are so many battery factory projects in Europe. What makes us wonder even more about the usefulness of BYD’s exercise…