The Faraday Institution regularly publishes Faraday Insights, evidence-based assessments of the market, economics, commercial potential, and capabilities for energy storage technologies and the transition to a fully electric UK. This post is a subsection of Insight 18: Developments in Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes (2023).
Market Trends
Since around 2020, the global market has seen a substantial increase in the market share of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP), thanks to lower raw material costs and improvements in cell and battery pack engineering. The growth in popularity of LFP has so far been driven largely by market developments in China, but LFP has recently started to grow in European markets as well. [6] While NMC type cathodes are mainly used to power EVs, LFP is well suited to EV applications with shorter range requirements as well as battery energy storage systems (BESS). This is due to the outstanding cycle life, safety benefits and low cost of LFP compared to NMC type cathodes. Its importance within the BESS sector is expected to continue to grow to 2030 and beyond. As such, the share of the battery market occupied by LFP and LMFP is set to continue increasing over the coming decade.
The increasing competitiveness of LFP packs has also been recognised by US and European automotive companies. For example, Tesla and Volkswagen have already begun transitioning to LFP for entry-level models. [1] In addition, optimised LFP is highly cost competitive, with LFP cells reaching a cost point of $80/kWh in 2020. [2]
Innovations in LFP Cathode Production
LFP was initially produced industrially via solid phase synthesis routes, such as high temperature solid phase reactions or carbothermal reduction, using lithium hydroxide derived from saline brine or from spodumene (Figure 1). [3]
However, the supply of lithium hydroxide has become relatively constrained due to ever growing EV battery demand. As a result, Chinese manufacturers are transitioning to lithium carbonate and employing liquid phase syntheses, such as liquid phase precipitation, sol-gel or hydrothermal synthesis.
In addition, further improvements in cell level energy density are expected through the introduction of modified LFP chemistries. A relatively new variation of LFP called lithium manganese iron phosphate (LiMnx Fe1−x PO4 or LMFP) is attracting significant attention from battery producers. The substitution of iron with manganese increases the operating voltage of the cell, yielding a greater energy density than that provided by standard LFP. As such, LMFP offers a cell level energy density of around 210-240 Wh/ kg, roughly 40% more than LFP. [4,5] Mass-scale LMFP cell production is already underway, with companies in China and the US looking to commercialise this technology. [4]
References
- Tesla is already using cobalt-free LFP batteries in half of its new cars produced, Electrek
- New Record Lows for Battery Prices, BENF
- Xiamen WinAck Battery Technology.
- CATL said to mass produce LMFP batteries within this year, CNEVPOST
- Gotion High-Tech prepares LMFP cell production, Electrive
- Goldman Sachs – Batteries: The Greenflation Challenge – 2022.