Lithium batteries are mainly composed of positive electrode materials, negative electrode materials, separators, electrolytes, and shells. The positive electrode material directly determines the energy density and safety performance of the battery and has a crucial impact on the lithium battery.
According to the material system, the current mainstream lithium battery cathode materials mainly include lithium iron phosphate (LFP), ternary material (NCM), lithium manganate (LMO), and lithium cobaltate (LCO). Among them, lithium iron phosphate belongs to polyanionic materials, and ternary materials and lithium cobalt oxide belongs to layered structure materials.
At present, lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium batteries are the most widely used in new energy power batteries. It can be seen from the above that compared with ternary materials, lithium iron phosphate has better safety and cycle life, but its low-temperature performance is worse than that of ternary materials. Materials, why is the output and loading of lithium iron phosphate batteries gradually surpassing that of ternary lithium batteries?
Safety
The thermal peak of a lithium iron phosphate battery can reach 500 °C, and CIA begins to dissolve when the temperature exceeds 500 °C, while the thermal peak of a ternary lithium battery is only around 300 °C, so most of the published autoignition events are ternary lithium batteries.
Service life and application cost
In terms of service life, the service life of lithium iron phosphate is about 2000 times of charge and discharge, while the ternary battery is theoretically 1000-2000 times. At present, it is generally around 1200 times, and the lithium iron phosphate raw material is cheaper than the ternary battery. Applied to new energy vehicles, lithium iron phosphate batteries have more advantages in service life and application cost, and are more easily accepted by ordinary consumers. The most direct example is that the price of the Tesla Model 3 series equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries dropped from 300,000 to 249,900.
Car company choice
From the perspective of cost, stability, and service life, car companies are more inclined to choose lithium iron phosphate batteries. Last year, auto giants such as Tesla and BYD also applied for lithium iron phosphate battery vehicles. In addition, Xiaopeng P7 and the new Nezha U Pro will also be equipped with a lithium iron phosphate battery.
It is expected that in the future, the loading of lithium iron phosphate batteries will further increase, and with the large-scale release of new lithium iron phosphate production capacity, the market competition for lithium iron phosphate materials will gradually become fiercer, and the price of lithium iron phosphate may be further reduced.
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