Another international car enterprise giant is planning using LFP battery

At present, the two main types of batteries used in electric vehicles on the market are ternary lithium battery and lithium iron phosphate battery(LFP battery)

Both are common types of lithium-ion batteries, and the difference between them lies in the cathode material.Due to different materials, their advantages and disadvantages are also very obvious.

Lithium iron phosphate:

Advantages- low cost, high life, high safety;

Disadvantages- relative low energy density, low temperature resistance, low SOC accuracy.

Ternary:

Advantages-high voltage platform, high energy density, high battery capacity, good C-rate performance;

Disadvantages-relative poor  safety performance, poor cycle life, high cost.

And recently, Lithium iron phosphate battery(LFP battery) with safer performance, lower cost and longer life is sweeping the world.

Mercedes is considering LFP battery

Daimler AG CEO Ola Kallenius said on Oct. 27 that Mercedes-Benz is considering using cheaper LFP battery in its entry-level models, according to media reports.

“Mercedes will use LFP battery in its next generation models like the Mercedes-benz EQA and EQB since 2024, while high-end models like the EQS still use ternary lithium battery,” he said in an interview.

Mercedes plans to launch models with LFP battery, taking into account soaring metal prices, a key raw material for ternary batteries, as well as consumers’ willingness to accept cheaper models with shorter range.

“There will be a lot of cities where consumers don’t need the E63 AMG [Mercedes high-performance sedan]. For the entry-level model, we are looking at LFP battery in the future.”

Daimler has already started using LFP battery for electric trucks. The announcement means that Mercedes-benz will also use LFP battery in passenger cars.

The Chinese market has long accepted LFP battery

In Chinese market, Chinese enterprises acceptance of LFP battery are higher. According to statistics, even in the field of new energy car, the penetration rate of LFP battery has reached 30%.

In addition to BYD that all models are equipped with blade battery, Xiaopeng, Nio and other car companies have or will use LFP batteries.

Data shows that in September this year, the installed capacity of power batteries in the Chinese market was about 15.86GWh, of which the installed capacity of LFP batteries was about 9.08GWh; The installation capacity of ternary battery is about 6.76GWh.

Since the installation of lithium iron phosphate battery exceeded the ternary battery in July, it has exceeded the ternary battery for three consecutive months, and the gap between the installation and the ternary battery is getting bigger and bigger.

In terms of output, China produced about 23.2GWh of power batteries in September this year. The output of LFP battery was 13.5GWh, accounting for 58.3% of the total output. The output of ternary battery was 9.6GWh, accounting for 41.6% of the total output.

From January to September, China’s power battery output totaled 134.7GWh, of which the output of lithium iron phosphate battery totaled 71.6Wh, accounting for 53.2% of the total output. The total output of ternary battery is 62.8GWh, accounting for 46.6% of the total output.

It is worth noting that in terms of year-on-year growth, from January to September, the production of lithium iron phosphate batteries increased by about 291.4%, while the production of ternary batteries increased by 131.1%.

So due to its low cost, abundant raw materials and high safety, LFP battery is widely used in the Chinese market, and now international car companies have also started to “defect”.

Since the beginning of this year, Volkswagen, Tesla, Ford, Hyundai, Renault and other international car companies have said that they are considering or will further expand the use of LFP battery, this popular product in the Chinese market is gradually accepted by the international market.

Car companies in various countries have started to use LFP battery

The leader of new energy vehicles should be Tesla. The reality is that Tesla is increasingly using lithium iron phosphate batteries.

In January and February of this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said publicly that tesla would replace the terum-lithium batteries in some electric cars with LFP battery.

Tesla will switch to LFP battery worldwide for the standard Model 3 and Model Y, the company said at its third-quarter investor conference.

Previously, Tesla has repeatedly released the signal will expand the use of lithium iron phosphate battery, this statement is also a solid step out of its battery technology route.

And it was previously rumored that starting from October 1, 2021, tesla’s standard Model 3/Y , manufactured at its Fremont, California plant, will use LFP battery from China.

Industry insiders said that tesla’s choice of lithium iron phosphate in the battery route is an important decision to further reduce costs in the face of fierce global competition in the new energy vehicle market.

Led by Tesla, the world’s leading electric vehicle company, the era of lithium iron phosphate is coming quietly around the world.

In addition to Tesla, tech giant Apple, which plans to launch an electric car by 2024, has made much of its announcement that it will use LFP battery, citing safety concerns.

In March, Volkswagen also revealed that it would use LFP battery in its future entry-level models, and that it would be one of the main battery routes for its platforms.

In terms of battery industry chain layout, Volkswagen has become the largest shareholder of Gotion High-tech, and Gotion High-tech has always been a supporter of lithium iron phosphate battery technology route.

Hyundai Motor, which has been developing electric cars for cost and safety reasons, started developing electric cars with LFP battery in the first half of this year.

It is reported that it will first launch a model with LFP battery in Korea and then sell a model with lithium iron phosphate batteries worldwide. Up to now, Hyundai motor’s pure electric vehicles still mainly use ternary batteries.

International mainstream car enterprises have accept LFP battery one after another, also attracted overseas lithium-ion battery manufacturers began to layout lithium iron phosphate battery.

Many battery companies have also begun to deploy LFP batteries

At present, LG New Energy is the world’s second largest power battery giant, second only to CATL.

In September, foreign media reported that LG Chem’s subsidiary LG New Energy has been developing LFP battery at its battery laboratory in Daejeon, South Korea, with trial production expected to begin in 2022.

LG Chem may set up a joint venture with its Chinese partner to supply LG New Energy with raw materials for the production of lithium iron phosphate batteries.

SKI, another foreign battery company, also said earlier this month that it is considering developing LFP battery, which have advantages in cost and thermal stability despite their lower energy density than ternary batteries.

SKI’s battery customers Volkswagen and Ford have confirmed that they will use LFP battery in their low-cost entry-level models. A number of automotive companies have shown interest in LFP battery, prompting these battery companies to begin to pay attention to it.

Panasonic Battery, the world’s third-largest battery maker, recently said it had no immediate plans to produce cheaper LFP battery for electric vehicles.

However, it remains to be seen whether Panasonic will increase its production of LFP batteries in the future, as major customer Tesla is already using them in large quantities.

Lithium iron phosphate batteries are being used on a larger scale due to their advantages of being safer, lower cost and longer life. There will be more auto companies and lithium ion battery manufacturers focus on LFP battery in the future.