Many people struggle with the type of battery when buying new energy vehicles. The main difference between ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries lies in the cathode material. Ternary lithium batteries use nickel salts, cobalt salts, and manganese salts/lithium aluminate as their cathode material, while lithium iron phosphate batteries use lithium iron phosphate. Aside from this, both use lithium hexafluorophosphate and graphite as their electrolyte and anode materials.
To determine which is better, ternary lithium batteries or lithium iron phosphate batteries, it's necessary to understand their respective advantages and disadvantages. Generally speaking, if the local climate is cold, it's best to choose ternary lithium batteries; if it's not so cold, like in Guangdong, lithium iron phosphate batteries are the better choice.
To understand why, we need to look at the advantages and disadvantages of both, starting with lithium iron phosphate batteries:
Advantages of lithium iron phosphate batteries
1. Contains no precious metals such as cobalt; raw materials are readily available and cost-effective.
2. The battery has high temperature resistance, with a thermal runaway temperature reaching approximately 800 degrees Celsius, and good safety performance;
3. The battery cycle life can reach over 3500 cycles, and some can even reach 5000 cycles, resulting in a long service life;
4. The battery's operating voltage is between 3.2-3.4V, which meets the basic requirements of vehicle batteries;
5. Even after the battery reaches the end of its lifespan, it still retains 80% of its stored capacity, making it highly valuable for recycling.
Disadvantages of lithium iron phosphate batteries
1. Poor low-temperature performance; at around -20 degrees Celsius, the battery capacity will decrease to approximately 55%.
2. Low energy density; when the energy density reaches 150Wh/kg, the battery volume/weight will be relatively large.
3. The battery has a long lifespan, but the battery pack has a short lifespan, generally around 500 cycles;
4. The overall manufacturing cost of the battery is high;
5. The battery manufacturing process is unstable and inconsistent.
The above summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of lithium iron phosphate batteries. Now let's look at the advantages and disadvantages of ternary lithium batteries:
Advantages of ternary lithium batteries
1. The battery output voltage reaches 3.7V, with high energy density and high power density;
2. Excellent high-rate charging performance and fast charging speed;
3. Excellent low-temperature performance; the battery's heating performance can still reach over 70% at -20 degrees Celsius.
4. High energy density, reaching over 200Wh per kilogram, resulting in smaller battery size and weight.
5. High discharge voltage and good output power.
Disadvantages of ternary lithium batteries
1. Low cycle life, generally around 2500 cycles;
2. It is not resistant to high temperatures; its thermal runaway temperature is around 200 degrees Celsius, resulting in low safety performance.
3. Batteries contain precious metals such as cobalt, resulting in high material costs;
4. High technical barriers to production.
