A quick look at what we think we know about the Ford Mach-E LFP battery. Is this:
- CATL LFP Qilin technology?
- A prototype pack used for early development?
The most significant piece of data is probably this image captured by electrek [1].
- 78.21kWh
- 347.8V
- 225Ah
- Made by CATL at their Ningde plant and HQ
This post has been built based on the support and sponsorship from: Eatron Technologies, About:Energy, AVANT Future Mobility, Quarto Technical Services, TAE Power Solutions and The Limiting Factor.
The InsideEVs [2] article puts the weight at 37lb lighter than the extended range NMC pack, giving the LFP pack a weight of 653kg.
The nominal voltage on the nameplate is 347.8V and CATL LFP cells have a nominal voltage of 3.22V, giving a series string of 108 cells.
The BYD Blade LFP packs are running with a 97% usable window and we would expect CATL to be able to match that.
With all of this we have the following estimations:
- Total energy = 78.21kWh
- usable energy = 75.7kWh
- usable SoC window ~ 97%
- Nominal voltage = 347.8V
- voltage range = 394.2V to 270V
- Cell configuration = 108s
- assumption is this is 1P and uses a 225Ah cell – to be confirmed
- Cell manufacturer = CATL
- Pack weight = 354kg
- Peak power = 258kW10s
- assumes 232kW motor power and 90% efficiency for motor and inverter
- Metrics
- Pack gravimetric energy density = 120Wh/kg
- Cell gravimetric energy density ~ 160 to 175Wh/kg
- Pack gravimetric energy density = 120Wh/kg
With highly integrated structure design, the groundbreaking CTP (cell to pack) technology has significantly increased the volumetric utilization efficiency of the battery pack, which has increased from 55% for the first-generation CTP battery to 72% for the third generation, or Qilin battery. The energy density of NMC Qilin battery can reach 255Wh/kg, while that of LFP one amounts to 160Wh/kg.
CATL CTP
It appears that this first application of LFP by Ford is not achieving the claimed 160Wh/kg that CATL say is possible with their Qilin cell to pack technology. Or the battery pack mass calculated by InsideEVs is wrong.
It could be that the pack photographed by electrek was an early prototype, the pack mass is wrong or the CATL Qilin technology is not as good as they claim?