Lithium batteries are mainly composed of cathode materials, negative electrode materials, diaphragms, electrolytes and housings, etc. The positive electrode material directly determines the energy density and safety performance of the battery, and the impact on lithium batteries is crucial.
According to the material system distinction, the current mainstream lithium battery cathode materials mainly include lithium iron phosphate (LFP), ternary materials (NCM), lithium manganese oxide (LMO), lithium cobalt oxide (LCO). Among them, lithium iron phosphate belongs to polyanionic materials, ternary materials and lithium cobalt oxide belong to layered structural materials.
At present, in terms of new energy power batteries, the most widely used lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium batteries, the above can be seen, lithium iron phosphate compared to ternary materials, safety and cycle life is better, but the low temperature performance is worse than ternary materials, then why lithium iron phosphate battery production and loading volume gradually surpass ternary lithium batteries?
security
The thermal peak of lithium iron phosphate batteries can reach 500 ° C, and the temperature exceeds 500 ° C, the CIA begins to dissolve, while the thermal peak of ternary lithium batteries is only about 300 ° C, so in the announced natural events of the car, it is mostly ternary lithium batteries.
Service life and application costs
In terms of service life, lithium iron phosphate service life of about 2000 times of charge and discharge, and ternary batteries are theoretically 1000-2000 times, in fact, it is generally near 1200 times, and lithium iron phosphate raw materials are cheaper than ternary batteries, 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 Tesla's Model 3 series equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries has dropped from 300,000 to 249,900.
Car company choice
From the perspective of cost, stability and service life, at present, car companies are more inclined to choose lithium iron phosphate batteries, last year Tesla, BYD and other auto giants have also declared lithium iron phosphate battery cars, in addition to Xiaopeng P7 and the new Nezha U Pro will also be equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries.
It is expected that in the future, the loading capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries will be further improved, and with the large-scale release of new production capacity of lithium iron phosphate, the competition in the lithium iron phosphate material market will gradually become fierce, and the price of lithium iron phosphate may be further reduced.