On September 9, the Ministry of industry and information technology of the people''s Republic of China released the eighth batch of recommended models for promotion and application of new energy vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the 'promotion catalog') in 2019, including 246 models. From the perspective of battery technology route, 169 models of LiFePO4 battery are matched, accounting for 69%, while in the first batch and the second batch of 'promotion catalogue', the proportion is 45% and 58% respectively. The moisture regain of LiFePO4 battery is more and more obvious.

High safety, low cost and long life are the three core advantages of LiFePO4 battery. With the continuous breakthrough of the technical bottleneck, the energy density of LiFePO4 battery continues to improve, which adds a heavy weight to its market favor.

Technology iteration accelerates energy density

According to the industry research report released by Pacific Securities, the gram capacity of LiFePO4 cathode material has basically increased from 120mAh / g to 145mah / g. This means that the energy density of LiFePO4 battery has been significantly improved.

This point has been verified in the new energy vehicle purchase tax exemption catalogue and promotion catalogue. According to the statistics of the passenger Association, from 2014 to 2018, the power battery energy density of the pure electric bus in the tax exemption catalogue increased from 85wh / kg to 138wh / kg, an increase of 62%. In addition, according to the promotion catalogue, a total of 1762 new energy buses were released in 2018, of which 93% were equipped with power battery energy density of more than 120wh / kg, of which 1006 new energy buses with energy density of 140wh / kg-150wh / kg accounted for 57%, and some of the supporting vehicles were more than 150wh / kg.

Behind the performance improvement is the accumulation and precipitation of technology and the bold practice of innovation. As the power battery technology route of X premature birth industrialization, China''s mainstream lithium iron phosphate battery enterprises continue to innovate from the aspects of cell design, process matching, production equipment, pack lightweight and other aspects. The lithium iron phosphate battery technology continues to iterate, and the energy density is constantly improved.

Recently, BYD disclosed at the performance exchange meeting that it will launch a new generation of lithium iron phosphate battery from May to June next year, with a volume specific energy density increase of 50%, a life span of 8 years of 1.2 million km, and a cost reduction of about 30%. Equipped with new batteries, the new car has a range of 500-600km.

'50% increase in volume specific energy density may lead to weight increase, but the actual endurance performance of X will be greatly improved.' Zhang Yu, Secretary General of the power battery application branch of China chemical and physical power industry association, said.

As a domestic enterprise supporting lithium iron phosphate battery for passenger cars, GuoXuan high tech has completed the product upgrading of lithium iron phosphate monomer with energy density of 190wh / kg. The energy density of supporting passenger car system reaches 140wh / kg, which can meet the endurance mileage of new energy vehicles above 400km. Wang Xiaoyang, general manager of GuoXuan high tech passenger vehicle division, said that in 2019, GuoXuan high tech plans to increase the energy density of LiFePO4 monomer cell to 200wh / kg and the system energy density to 160wh / kg.

Industry insiders believe that the breakthrough of technical bottleneck has brought a new dawn for the development of lithium iron phosphate battery. After the continuous improvement of energy density, its high cost performance advantage has been amplified, and its market attraction is self-evident.

Significant core advantages, market share continued to rise

It can be seen from the recent batch of 'promotion catalogue' that lithium iron phosphate battery occupies the advantage of ×× in pure electric buses and special purpose vehicles, and the application proportion in passenger cars has also increased.

'New energy buses may receive further support from the policy, which will further benefit the lithium iron phosphate battery industry; for consumers in third and fourth tier cities and even towns, lithium iron phosphate batteries with low price, long service life and high safety are more competitive in the market; a large number of lithium iron phosphate batteries will be provided in the field of special purpose vehicles this year, which is also an important factor in the market recovery.' Zhang Yu explained.

According to different market positioning models, the main engine plant has different requirements in terms of power battery energy density and technical route. In the A0 and A00 class models, consumers are more sensitive to the price, and the replacement of LiFePO4 battery is more popular in the market.

Cheng Yansong, deputy general manager of marketing center of Huading Guolian Power Battery Co., Ltd., pointed out that at present, the energy density of LiFePO4 battery can meet the basic endurance requirements of electric vehicles, and the cost is 10% to 15% cheaper than that of ternary battery. By replacing the lithium iron phosphate battery for medium and low-end vehicles, the cost can be saved by about RMB 3000-6000. Both in performance and price, LiFePO4 battery has certain advantages.

The reporter found that in 2019, JAC has increased the process of battery replacement, with a total of 6 models equipped with LiFePO4 battery; BAIC new energy''s ecu220 has added a standard version model equipped with lithium iron phosphate battery, compared with the previous two versions, the price does not rise but falls; SAIC general Wuling and Chery have also declared models equipped with lithium iron phosphate battery.

At the same time, as the 'heart' of new energy vehicles, the safety of power batteries has always been the focus of the industry. Due to the high thermal decomposition temperature of LiFePO4 cathode material and the low heat release during thermal runaway, the safety of LiFePO4 battery is generally higher than that of ternary battery under the conditions of the same other materials of cell, the same structure design of battery pack and the same structural components.

'In terms of service life, the capacity of lithium iron phosphate battery begins to decline after about 3500 cycles of charge and discharge, while the ternary lithium battery usually declines after 2000 cycles, which is obviously different.' Zhang Yu said.

Wang Xiaoyang said that the LiFePO4 battery has a basic and vehicle life of 8-10 years. Jianghuai first generation car was put into the market in 2011, and many users are still using it, which fully illustrates the iron phosphate