Fortune Minerals : Cobalt News

PC Magazine - PCMag - February 21, 2023

Rivian, Tesla, and Ford are embracing LFP batteries, which are cheap and abundant but offer lackluster range in cold weather. And customers ...

An ongoing debate within the auto industry about which type of battery to put in electric vehicles is not going in favor of the millions of Americans living in colder climates. Multiple brands are switching from the current standard, nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), to a cheaper, more abundant version, known as lithium iron phosphate (LFP)-primarily on their cheaper vehicles…There are plenty of pros and cons for both chemistries, though a known con of LFP batteries is their range drops faster in cold weather due to lower energy density. However, their lower cost and higher availability are appealing to car companies seeking to reduce vehicle wait times and keep prices down as the cost of NCM materials is at an all-time high…LFP's reduced energy density comes down to the material properties. All EV batteries comprise two main components: an anode and a cathode. Both LFP and NCM typically have the same anode, made of graphite, but different metals in the cathode. NCM uses lithium, cobalt, and manganese, and LFP uses lithium and iron…"NCM has a layered, densely packed crystal structure," Yushin explains. "This enables high lithium storage per unit volume. In contrast, LFP has a much more open, olivine crystal structure, which does not allow lithium storage to be dense."…He also notes that LFP batteries suffer from both lower battery voltage and smaller volumetric capacity, two main reasons for lower LFP energy density…Today, EV shoppers can see a vehicle's EPA-estimated range-i.e. 250 miles-but the EPA and auto industry lack a standard way to convey a range floor with repeated use in cold weather. The need for such a metric increases once LFP batteries become more commonplace. However, the companies already using them have chosen not to disclose battery type to future customers…For example, Rivian's online vehicle configurator makes no mention of LFP or NCM. Instead, buyers can choose a standard range truck (260 miles), which likely runs on an LFP, spend an extra $6,000 for a "large pack" (328 miles), or add $16,000 for a "max pack" (400 miles)…The same goes for Tesla, though Tesla offers a way for vehicle owners to check their battery type after the vehicle is in hand. "Some vehicles are equipped with a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) Battery," says Tesla's website(Opens in a new window). "To determine if your vehicle is equipped with an LFP battery, navigate to Controls > Software > Additional Vehicle Information."…Ford is also not planning to disclose battery type to customers, even if its LFP announcement suggests customers can choose. "Offering LFP as a second battery chemistry-in addition to nickel cobalt manganese (NCM)-allows Ford customers to choose an electric vehicle with unique battery performance characteristics most aligned with their needs," Ford says(Opens in a new window)…Ford explains the main differences between NCM and LFP batteries, noting NCM is known for better power, range, and cold weather performance…There is another issue with LFP batteries: reduced pickup truck towing power. "For an F-150 Lightning customer [who] often tows or hauls, NCM batteries will be a great fit...because those customers value the power and longer range made possible by NCMs," Ooms says. Once Ford introduces LFP batteries, only the more expensive, extended range pickups will achieve the baseline capabilities customers switching from gas-powered trucks are expecting…LFP batteries are also less recycling-friendly than NCM. "NCM is more expensive only because it uses more expensive raw materials, particularly nickel," Yushin says. "When you recycle NCM, you can get nearly all the valuables, all the metals back, so there is a significant economic value in that. In contrast, iron is very cheap."…This makes it harder for recyclers to turn a profit on reselling the raw materials, so there's little incentive to create a recycling industry for LFP…Both battery types affect different customers for different reasons. But as the EV industry matures to include two distinct chemistries, car companies and the EPA owe consumers more concrete information on the trade-offs and what to expect from their vehicle.