70% of the Energy Storage Markets are Lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP)

China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (“Battery Alliance”) has released data showing that in February 2023, China’s power battery installation volume was 21.9GWh, an increase of 60.4% YoY and 36.0% MoM. Ternary batteries installed 6.7GWh, accounting for 30.6% of the total installed capacity, an increase of 15.0% YoY and 23.7% MoM. Lithium iron phosphate batteries installed 15.2GWh, accounting for 69.3% of the total installed capacity, an increase of 95.3% YoY and 42.2% MoM.

From the above data, we can see that the proportion of lithium iron phosphate in the total installed base is very close to 70%. Another trend is that, whether YoY or MoM, lithium iron phosphate battery installation growth rate is much faster than ternary batteries. According to this trend towards the back, lithium iron phosphate battery market share of the installed base will soon exceed 70%!

Hyundai is considering the second generation of Kia RayEV on the start of the use of Ningde Time lithium-iron phosphate batteries, which will be the first Hyundai launched with lithium-iron-phosphate batteries for electric vehicles. This is not the first cooperation between Hyundai and Ningde Times, as Hyundai has previously introduced a ternary lithium battery produced by CATL. However, only the battery cells were brought in from CATL, and the modules and packaging were carried out in South Korea.

The information shows that Hyundai will also introduce CATL’s “Cell To Pack” (CTP) technology in order to overcome the low energy density. By simplifying the module structure, this technology can increase the volume utilization of the battery pack by 20% to 30%, reduce the number of parts by 40%, and increase production efficiency by 50%.

Hyundai Motor Group held third place in the world after Toyota and Volkswagen with total global sales of about 6,848,200 units in 2022. In the European market, Hyundai Motor Group sold 106.1 million units, ranking fourth with a market share of 9.40%, making it the fastest-growing car company.

In the field of electrification, Hyundai Motor Group has launched IONIQ (Enikon) 5, IONIQ6, Kia EV6, and other pure electric vehicles based on E-GMP, a dedicated platform for pure electric vehicles. It is worth mentioning that Hyundai’s IONIQ5 was not only elected as “World Car of the Year 2022”, but also “World Electric Car of the Year 2022” and “World Car Design of the Year 2022”. The IONIQ5 and IONIQ6 models will sell more than 100,000 units worldwide in 2022.

Lithium iron phosphate batteries are taking the world by storm

Yes, it is true that many car companies are already using or considering the use of lithium iron phosphate batteries. In addition to Hyundai and Stellantis, General Motors is also exploring the possibility of using lithium iron phosphate batteries to reduce costs1. Toyota in China has used the BYD lithium iron phosphate blade battery in some of its electric cars1. Earlier in 2022, Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, Renault, Daimler and many other international mainstream car companies have clearly integrated lithium iron phosphate batteries into their entry-level models.

Battery companies are also investing in lithium iron phosphate batteries. For example, the U.S. battery startup Our Next Energy announced that it will begin production of lithium iron phosphate batteries in Michigan. The company will continue its expansion after its new $1.6 billion plant comes online next year; by 2027, it plans to provide enough lithium iron phosphate batteries for 200,000 electric vehicles.

Kore Power, another U.S. battery startup, expects demand for lithium iron phosphate batteries to grow in the United States. The company plans to set up two assembly lines at a plant to be built in Arizona by the end of 2024, one for the production of ternary batteries, currently the mainstream in the United States, and the other for the production of lithium iron phosphate batteries1.

In February, Ningde Times and Ford Motor reached an agreement. Ford will contribute $3.5 billion to build a new battery plant in Michigan, the United States, mainly to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries.

LG New Energy recently revealed that the company is stepping up the development of lithium iron phosphate batteries for electric vehicles. Its goal is to make its lithium iron phosphate battery performance better than its Chinese rivals, that is, the energy density of this battery than C to provide Tesla Model 3 battery 20% higher.

In addition, sources said SK On is also working with Chinese lithium iron phosphate materials companies to lay out lithium iron phosphate capacity in overseas markets.