Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery VS Ternary Lithium Battery

With the continuous breakthrough of power battery technology problems and the improvement of related technologies, the current range of most new energy vehicles has exceeded 600km, further alleviating everyone's anxiety about the range of new energy vehicles. At present, the power battery types of new energy vehicles are mainly divided into two types: lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium batteries. The two basically divide the power battery share of the new energy market.

In fact, the two have been competing against each other since 2015. With the instant success of BYD's Blade Batteries, the current market share of lithium iron phosphate batteries is far ahead of that of ternary lithium batteries. So the question is, does the higher proportion of lithium iron phosphate batteries mean that it has more advantages? What is the difference between lithium iron phosphate battery and ternary lithium battery? Which is the future direction of development? Let’s take a look today.

The two main differences between Lifepo4 battery and ternary lithium battery are as follows:

01. Different materials

Since the negative electrodes of different types of lithium batteries are graphite, but the positive electrode materials are different, everyone basically uses the positive electrode material to distinguish lithium batteries. Lithium iron phosphate batteries refer to lithium-ion batteries that use lithium iron phosphate as the cathode material, while ternary lithium batteries refer to lithium-ion batteries that use lithium nickel cobalt manganate as the cathode material.

It is worth mentioning that because lithium iron phosphate batteries do not contain precious metal elements such as cobalt, their raw material prices are also lower, and phosphorus and iron resources are relatively abundant on the earth. On the contrary, ternary lithium batteries not only have higher raw material costs, but also have higher production technology thresholds.

02. Different energy densities

In terms of energy density, lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium batteries are also different. The energy density of lithium iron phosphate battery cells is about 110Wh/kg, while the energy density of ternary lithium battery cells is about 200Wh/kg. In other words, for batteries of the same weight, the energy density of ternary lithium batteries is 1.6-1.7 times that of lithium iron phosphate batteries. Therefore, ternary lithium batteries can bring longer battery life to new energy vehicles.

03. Different temperature resistances

In terms of resistance to temperature, lifepo4 battery and ternary lithium batteries also have different performances. Under high temperature conditions, ternary lithium batteries will decompose at 200°C, while the decomposition temperature of lithium iron phosphate batteries is 800°C. Therefore, lithium iron phosphate batteries are more resistant to high temperatures and less likely to catch fire. This also explains from the side that lithium iron phosphate batteries Battery safety is better.

However, although lithium iron phosphate batteries are resistant to high temperatures, their performance under low temperature conditions is relatively poor, and their ultimate operating temperature is around minus 20 degrees. The ultimate temperature of ternary lithium batteries is about minus 30 degrees, so new energy vehicles equipped with ternary lithium batteries will perform better at low temperatures.

04. Different charge and discharge cycle lifespan

The two also have different performances in terms of the number of charge and discharge times. Among them, the number of charge and discharge cycles of lithium iron phosphate batteries can reach 3500-5000 times, while the number of cycles of ternary lithium batteries is only about 2500 times. In other words, new energy vehicles equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries can be used for a longer period of time.

lifepo4 batteries and ternary lithium batteries actually have their own advantages and disadvantages. Among them, lithium iron phosphate batteries have the advantages of high temperature resistance, strong safety and stability, cheap price, and better cycle performance; while ternary lithium batteries are more resistant to low temperatures and have higher capacity density, and of course their prices are higher.

Which is the future direction of development?

lifepo4 battery and ternary lithium batteries each have their own advantages and disadvantages, so which one is the future development direction? In fact, everyone holds different views on this issue. However, BYD and CATL have given the answer with practical actions. Lithium iron phosphate batteries are the future of new energy vehicles.

01. The explosion of BYD blade batteries

Since BYD launched lithium iron phosphate blade batteries in 2020, the "traditional disadvantage" of being less energy dense than ternary lithium batteries has been greatly weakened. At the same time, due to BYD's breakthrough in battery technology, the cruising range of pure electric vehicles equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries can reach more than 600 kilometers. And BYD has also proven the success of lithium iron phosphate batteries with the results of 3 million new energy vehicles.

02. Cost advantage is huge

In addition, as a global power battery giant, although CATL’s early power battery route was ternary lithium batteries, due to the rising prices of battery raw materials such as cobalt and nickel, CATL had to find another way out, so lithium iron phosphate batteries became the first choice. options, and keep ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries walking on two legs.

Both Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries provided by CATL. Thanks to the decline in battery costs, these two models have undergone multiple price cuts in China, and they have been cutting prices like crazy. Chinese chives. On January 6, 2023, Tesla announced another price reduction, with the highest price reduction for Model Y reaching 48,000. In addition, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Renault and other car companies have stated that they will consider switching to lithium iron phosphate batteries with cost-effective advantages.