LFP batteries on the rise – thanks to Tesla and BYD

shares in this article

• LFP batteries have many advantages over traditional lithium-ion batteries

• Since the beginning of 2021, they have been installed more and more in new e-cars

• Tesla and BYD made a major contribution to this

LFP batteries use cheaper and more environmentally friendly materials

The lithium-ion batteries in electric cars usually contain cobalt, nickel and manganese and are therefore very expensive and the ecologically questionable part of the otherwise very environmentally friendly alternative to vehicles with classic combustion engines. So-called LFP batteries have also been around for a number of years. These also belong to the category of lithium-ion batteries, but do not contain the harmful heavy metals. Because: The positive electrode of the battery does not consist of cobalt oxide, as is often the case, but of iron phosphate. This means that the LFP batteries are not only cheaper, but also more environmentally friendly – and they should last ten to 20 years.

Share of new vehicles with LFP batteries has risen sharply since the beginning of 2021

Due to the state of research and because new technologies often only arrive on the market slowly, at the beginning of 2021 only 17 percent of all batteries in newly sold e-cars were such LFP batteries. However, as an analysis by the market research institute Adamas Intelligence showed, a year later, i.e. at the beginning of 2022, the market share of LFP batteries (in newly sold vehicles) was already 26 percent. In September 2022, according to the information portal teslarati with reference to Adamas Intelligence, a full 31 percent and thus almost a third of all batteries in newly sold electric cars were LFP batteries.

By far the most e-cars in China are still powered by LFP batteries

According to the analysis, this is largely thanks to the two market-leading e-car manufacturers Tesla and BYD. These would have increased enormously in the use of LFP batteries and in the months of January to September 2022 a total of 68 percent of all new LFP batteries in their vehicles – such as the Model 3 RWD – installed. It is also noteworthy that over 85 percent of the LFP batteries in electric cars in China were installed during this period. In a country comparison, the USA, India, Great Britain and Germany follow. This should change at the latest when the biggest weak point of the LFP batteries – their energy density, i.e. output in kWh – is compensated.

Editorial office finanzen.net

Image sources: Robert Way / Shutterstock.com