LFP Batteries

Jiangxi Special Electric Motor will supply Gotion High-tech with no less than 500 tons/month of battery-grade lithium carbonate, which can meet the raw material supply of at least 10 GWh of LFP batteries per year.

China's lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery installed base surpassed ternary batteries for the first time this year in July, and that lead widened in August.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Friday that he would prefer lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries because they can be charged to 100 percent, while ternary batteries are only recommended to be charged to 90 percent.

The installed base of lithium iron phosphate batteries rose 235.5 percent in July, compared with a 67.5 percent increase for ternary batteries.

The current dual-motor model of the P7 uses a ternary lithium battery with a combined NEDC range of 562km.

For comparison, China shipped 124,000 tons of LFP cathode materials in 2020, up 41 percent year-over-year, with market size of about RMB 4.5 billion.

It is worth noting that about 74.42 percent of the installed capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries came from the passenger car market, at 16.76 GWh.

In June, CATL had the highest installed capacity of 5.44 GWh, with a market share of 49.1 percent.

Lithium iron phosphate batteries were installed at 4.5GWh, with a market share of 46 percent, up 458.6 percent year-on-year and 40.9 percent from April.

The China-made Model Y is currently powered by ternary lithium batteries supplied by LG. Lower-cost LFP batteries would mean a lower price for the model in China.