Overseas markets are accelerating the production and assembly of lithium iron phosphate batteries. On January 28, according to Nikkei,Nissan Motor plans to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries for electric vehicles from FY2026. The company is developing at its R&D facility in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and hopes to reduce costs by 20 to 30 percent.
Japanese companies have long adhered to the ternary battery technology route, but in recent years, they have gradually changed their pride and prejudice against lithium iron phosphate batteries. In February last year, Japan's Okayama Prefecture launched plans to build a new battery factoryWith an annual production capacity of 5GWh, PowerX, the start-up leading the project, has set its sights on lithium iron phosphate batteriesand aims to build 7,000 EV charging facilities in Japan by 2030.
In fact, in addition to Japanese companies, South Korea's LG New Energy, SK On, Samsung SDI, as well as European and American battery manufacturers and automobile manufacturers are also increasing the layout of lithium iron phosphate batteries. Ryan Castilloux, founder of consulting firm Adamas Intelligence, said, "Lithium iron phosphate batteries have undoubtedly set off a second wave in the battery industry, andThis wave is beginning to move westward.
Overseas lithium iron phosphate production capacity has been accelerated
It is understood that LG New Energy will be able to promote cooperation with Tesla through the mass production of lithium iron phosphate batteries in the United States. According to foreign media reports, LG New Energy plans to do so in Arizona, USAInvestment 72 trillion won (about 5.5 billion US dollars) to build a 16GWh lithium iron phosphate battery projectThe company aims to achieve mass production in 2026.
The company will produce lower** lithium iron phosphate batteries from 2026 to better meet the demand for low-cost electric vehicles. LG New Energy said. According to sources,LG Energy Solution aims to outperform the batteries produced by its competitor CATL, that is, the energy density of this battery is 20% higher than that provided by CATL to Tesla Model 3.
In terms of lithium iron phosphate materials, LG New Energy also has a layout. In September last year, LG New Energy announced that it and Huayou Cobalt would jointly build an electric vehicle battery materials plant in Morocco, which will be put into operation in 2026, with a target annual output of 50,000 tons of lithium iron phosphate materials. LG Energy Solution said that the lithium iron phosphate material produced at its Moroccan plant will be the first in the North American market.
Interestingly, LG's South Korean friend SK ON also plans to start mass production of lithium iron phosphate batteries as early as 2026 to supply a number of automakers. An official from SK ON said, "Lithium iron phosphate batteries have excellent performance in terms of cost, safety and longevity, so more and more car companies are increasing their demand for lithium iron phosphate batteries. This is the main reason why SK ON decided to develop lithium iron phosphate batteries. ”
Samsung SDI plans to be located at its locationAt the factory in Ulsan, South Korea, a lithium iron phosphate battery production line was built, which was the first such production line in South Korea at that time。However, it is worth noting that a person in charge of Samsung SDI said that it has not yet been decided whether the lithium iron phosphate batteries produced will be used in electric vehicles or energy storage systems (ESS).
In addition to South Korean manufacturers, American manufacturers are also catching up on the lithium iron phosphate technology route. In March last year,American start-up Our Next Energy has announced that it will begin production of lithium iron phosphate batteries in Michigan。The company will continue its expansion after a new $1.6 billion plant comes on stream in 2024; By 2027, the company plans to supply enough lithium iron phosphate batteries for 200,000 electric vehicles.
In February last year, Ford Motor and CATL also announced that they would cooperate in the production of lithium iron phosphate batteries at a new plant in Michigan, with an investment of up to $3.5 billion. It isThe first battery plant in the U.S. wholly owned by an automakerCATL will provide technical and service support for the production of the plant. The plant is expected to start production in 2026 and has an initial design capacity of about 35GWh per year, which will supply power battery packs for about 400,000 Ford electric vehicles per year.
According to Adamas Intelligence, lithium iron phosphate batteries currently account for no more than 20% of the announced battery production capacity in the United States, but the consulting firm expects the share of lithium iron phosphate batteries in the United States to increase to nearly 30% by the middle of the next decade.
In terms of European manufacturers, Serbian company Elevenes previously announced a strategic partnership with EIT Innoenergy to build the first lithium iron phosphate battery gigafactory in Europe, which will start construction in 2024 with a planned production capacity of 8GWh. It is reported that in September 2022Elevenes has developed Europe's first and largest full-size lithium iron phosphate batteryThe first batch of batteries was delivered to customers for testing in the first quarter of 2023.
In terms of car companies, Tesla has assembled a large number of lithium iron phosphate batteries, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk also claimed that two-thirds of Tesla cars in the future will use lithium iron phosphate batteries, and one-third may use nickel batteries. In recent years, Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Renault, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors and other international car companies have also said that they will consider using or further expanding lithium iron phosphate batteries.
Lithium iron phosphate is available worldwide
Compared with ternary lithium batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries have stronger safety and stability, lower cost, longer cycle life, and are only slightly inferior in terms of energy density and mileage. In recent years, with the progress of technology, the performance of lithium iron phosphate batteries has been greatly improved, the energy density has been improved, the cost advantage has been further highlighted, and the market scale has grown rapidly.
Tesla, Ford and other overseas new energy vehicle mainstream companies have clarified the path of lithium iron phosphate batteries", industry insiders said that it is expected that more and more car companies will choose lithium iron phosphate solutions in their electrification paths in the future, and lithium iron phosphate batteries are expected to achieve global support.
According to the Wood Mackenzie research report, cost and safety will continue to be the first factors that battery manufacturers need to consider in a variety of battery application scenarios. Lithium iron phosphate is expected in the next 10 yearsMore than ternary batteries have become the dominant electrical energy storage chemicalAfter gaining a firm foothold in the energy storage market, it will gradually dominate the field of electric vehicles.