Toyota has a JV with Panasonic, who also supplies Tesla for its US cars.
Its likely Toyota will simply "localize" its battery sources based on regional locations. For example, its China JV will have to use Chinese ones like CATL.
Right now, NCMA and NMH batteries are the gold standard for the high end due to its combination of safety and high density. The problem is these also use Nicket and Cobalt. Personally, and I am sure with many others, is that I am not interested in buying a $50,000 SUV that will do 0 to 100kph in 4 seconds. Something around $10,000 to $20,000 will do and 0 to 100kph in 10 seconds would be more than enough. But most of all I want it to be safe and has a long battery life.
China's strategic pivot to LFP, first used with electric scooters over 10 years ago, has knocked it out of the ballpark.
Check out CATL's meteoric growth. 3400% is not a typo.
Lithium ferro phosphate (LFP)
LFPs, which use a lithium-iron compound as cathode, were among the first LIBs to be commercialized. They are already standard in China, used in that country’s ubiquitous scooters and small EVs.
“The big Chinese battery makers — BYD, CATL and Lishen — each one of those is larger by itself than any other battery company that’s not in China,” says Lou Schick, director of investments at Clean Energy Ventures. “And they have been making lithium iron phosphate cells for 10 years.”
A few years ago, it
like LFPs were going to be displaced by NMCs and NCAs, but lately they’ve made a comeback. Now they are potentially positioned to take the lead in the EV and stationary storage markets. They have already captured
.
LFPs use lithium ferro phosphate (LiFePO4) as the cathode, replacing nickel, manganese and/or aluminum. They have numerous advantages relative to nickel-based competitors:
- Cheaper on a materials basis (though not yet on a $/kWh basis).
- Higher cycle life (Matt Roberts, previously executive director of the Energy Storage Association and now working at battery company Simpliphi, says his company’s LFP batteries are covered by warranty for 10,000 cycles, compared to 2,500 to 5,000 for cobalt batteries).
- Higher power density.
- High safety and low toxicity (“They’re almost…bulletproof in that they can’t catch fire,” says Clean Energy Ventures’ Schick).
- Replace problematic and/or rare metals with iron, which is safe and abundant.
In exchange for these advantages, LFPs have lower energy density (because there are fewer spaces for ions to intercalate). However, because they are so safe, LFPs do not require the same protective packaging that NMCs and NCAs do, so they can gain some of that efficiency back at the pack level. Tesla says that although LFPs have 50 percent of the energy density of their high-nickel competitors, an LFP-based vehicle can still get 75 percent of the range.
VW
that starting in 2023 it will be “employing lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, in entry models; nickel-manganese in volume models; and nickel-rich NCM in high-end models.”
Tesla said more or less the same thing at its Battery Day event in 2020. It plans to use LFPs for an upcoming cheap (under $25,000) vehicle, the Model 3 and commercial energy storage.
Articles worth checking:
