Ternary lithium battery (NCM / NCA) and lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP) are the two most mainstream technical routes in the field of electric vehicle power battery at this stage. With the rising price of battery raw materials, lithium iron phosphate battery with cost advantage began to be adopted by more car enterprises. In the first quarter of 2022, the installed capacity of lithium iron phosphate battery has fully exceeded that of ternary lithium battery, and the market share has gradually increased.
Following Tesla‘s announcement that lithium iron phosphate batteries will be used in entry-level models such as model 3 and moderl y, Ford, another American car company, plans to launch electric models equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries.
Jim Farley, chief executive of Ford, said at the recent earnings conference call that Ford had accumulated some technology on lithium iron phosphate battery and planned to carry lithium iron phosphate battery on two low-cost entry-level models of pure electric SUV Mustang mach-e and pure electric pickup F-150 lightning in the future, but did not disclose the specific launch time and more details.
“We have studied lithium iron phosphate battery for a long time. The implementation of lithium iron phosphate battery solution in Ford’s first generation pure electric vehicle is a huge opportunity to rapidly increase production.” Farley said at the meeting.
According to Ford’s prediction, the annual output of F-150 lightning models in the United States will reach 150000 by 2023, while the annual output of Mustang mach-e models in Mexico will only be 50000 in 2021. Such a substantial capacity improvement plan is a great challenge for Ford.
The adoption of lithium iron phosphate battery can not only maintain the price attractiveness of entry-level models under the trend of rising raw material prices, but also better allocate the output of ternary lithium battery to high-end long-life models, so as to alleviate the supply pressure caused by the shortage of ternary lithium battery and further expand the overall production capacity of electric vehicles.
Foreign media said that in addition to the confirmed Mustang mach-e and F-150 lightning, Ford may also carry lithium iron phosphate batteries on the pure electric commercial truck E-transit.
Lithium iron phosphate battery is a lithium-ion battery using lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as positive material and carbon as negative material. Compared with ternary lithium battery, lithium iron phosphate battery has stronger safety and stability, longer cycle life, and is only slightly inferior in energy density and mileage.
The cathode of ternary lithium battery contains “ternary precursor” composed of nickel, cobalt and manganese. Therefore, it has performance advantages in terms of battery energy density and is also greatly affected by the rising price of key materials. The lithium iron phosphate battery does not contain nickel and cobalt, and the supply of raw materials is more stable, which has a stronger cost advantage than the ternary lithium battery.
In addition, the charge and discharge performance of the two batteries are also different. Tesla CEO musk publicly said that Tesla models equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries can be charged to 100%, while models equipped with ternary lithium batteries need to consider their cycle life, and it is recommended to charge only to 90%.
Tesla, the global leader in electric vehicles, is the first vehicle enterprise to adopt lithium iron phosphate batteries on a large scale. Nearly 50% of the electric vehicles produced by the company in the first quarter of 2022 adopted lithium iron phosphate batteries. In addition to Tesla and Ford, some electric vehicle manufacturers have also added lithium iron phosphate battery versions to some models. Rivian previously announced the launch of lithium iron phosphate battery versions of r1t pickup truck, R1s SUV and EDV van. Volkswagen Group, Xiaopeng automobile and other companies are also promoting battery models equipped with lithium iron phosphate.
Tesla CEO musk said: “In the long run, because lithium iron phosphate batteries do not contain nickel and cobalt elements, the use scale of this battery may exceed that of ternary lithium batteries. In terms of the proportion of power battery market, lithium iron phosphate batteries will account for about two-thirds in the future, and power batteries with ternary lithium batteries or other similar elements will account for one-third. In fact, this proportion is very appropriate, because there are a lot of iron resources in the world, and there are relatively few nickel and cobalt resources.”
According to the data of China Automobile Association, in April this year, China Shipbuilding Industry Group Power Co.Ltd(600482) battery output was 29.0gwh, of which ternary battery output was 10.3gwh, accounting for 35.5% of the total output, and lithium iron phosphate battery output was 18.6gwh, accounting for 64.3% of the total output. In the same month, China Shipbuilding Industry Group Power Co.Ltd(600482) battery loading volume was 13.3gwh, of which ternary battery loading volume was 4.4gwh, accounting for 32.9% of the total loading volume, with a year-on-year decrease of 15.6%, and lithium iron phosphate battery loading volume was 8.9gwh, accounting for 67.0% of the total loading volume, with a year-on-year increase of 177.2%.
According to spir, global lithium iron phosphate battery shipments will reach 480.1gwh by 2025 In the future, China is expected to become the largest producer of lithium iron phosphate batteries. The world’s largest supplier of lithium iron phosphate batteries is China Shipbuilding Industry Group Power Co.Ltd(600482) battery leader Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) ( Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) ), and six of the world’s top ten power battery enterprises are from China.
It is worth noting that another China Shipbuilding Industry Group Power Co.Ltd(600482) battery giant Byd Company Limited(002594) ( Byd Company Limited(002594) ) overtook Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) with a loading capacity of 4.19gwh, becoming the first lithium iron phosphate power battery enterprise in China in April Byd Company Limited(002594) 2020 “blade battery” adopts lithium iron phosphate technology, and through structural innovation, the volume utilization rate of the battery has been increased by more than 50%, reaching the same level of high energy density ternary lithium battery.
At present, Byd Company Limited(002594) is the only Chinese battery supplier of Ford Mustang mach-e, which is equipped with ternary high nickel 811 battery produced by Byd Company Limited(002594) Xi’an factory. From the cooperation between the two sides in Mustang mach-e model, Ford may adopt Byd Company Limited(002594) “blade battery” as part of its lithium iron phosphate battery solution in the future.
