Tesla hand in hand with contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., Model 30,000 lithium iron phosphate battery started?

Introduction? |? Everything is to reduce costs.

On February 18, an article by Reuters entitled "Tesla is negotiating to use cobalt-free batteries of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. on Tesla in China" caused a heated discussion in the industry.

Indeed, just reading this title is enough to surprise many people. Although battery manufacturers are trying their best to reduce the cobalt content in the positive electrode of the battery, even the industry-leading NCA ternary lithium battery, which is co-operated by Panasonic and Tesla, only reaches a single-digit percentage, and the most outstanding product in contemporary Amperex Technology Co, Limited is only 10%.

Therefore, it is incredible to suddenly see that Tesla wants to use the cobalt-free battery of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. on domestic Tesla. So, how is the cobalt-free battery of contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. realized?

It is found that the so-called cobalt-free battery is actually LFP lithium iron phosphate battery, which has nothing to do with ternary lithium battery.

Let's talk about why Tesla is on a domestic model. 3 abandon the original ternary lithium battery on the standard battery life version.

1. Why use Ferrous lithium phosphate instead?

Tesla came to Hong Kong to set up a factory, on the one hand because of its embarrassing situation in the United States, and on the other hand, it was concerned about the market in China and the consumption power of consumers in China.

With the entry-level luxury brands gradually becoming mainstream models on the street, they have also become the main sales force of luxury brands, Elon? How can Musk be indifferent to such a market? Jealousy is natural.

However, in order to stay in the domestic market, Musk himself knows very well that the products should be accessible to most people on tiptoe, and the price should be sincere enough. That's it. Domestic models? 3 Originally, domestic models? The mission of 3 is not to pursue performance blindly, but to pursue the balance between performance and cost (the premise of price reduction is to reduce costs). There is no doubt that switching to lithium iron phosphate battery is to reduce costs.

▎ Cobalt is expensive to purchase.

In general, the cost of battery pack accounts for about 40% of the whole vehicle cost, and the cathode material of ternary lithium battery accounts for 40% of the battery pack cost. At present, the three raw materials and prices of cathode materials are nickel 65438+ ten thousand/ton, cobalt 273000/ ton and manganese 6400/ ton respectively.

Obviously, the price of cobalt is much higher than the other two raw materials, so as mentioned above, all battery manufacturers are trying to reduce the cobalt content of the battery cathode. As far as the current technology is concerned, no enterprise can achieve zero cobalt while using ternary lithium batteries. To really get rid of cobalt, lithium phosphate battery is a way out.

In the final analysis, this "cobalt-free" attempt is obviously necessary to reduce costs.

▎ Panasonic battery has a high transportation cost.

Without considering lithium ferrous phosphate, if transportation costs and taxes are put aside, Tesla prefers to build domestic models? Panasonic's ternary lithium battery is used in the standard battery life version. (or because the price is cheap)

However, the biggest problem with Panasonic batteries is that they are only produced in American factories. If you use Panasonic batteries, although the price is low, considering that they must be shipped from the United States to China, the expenses are not low.

▎LG？ Chemical batteries are expensive.

If you choose LG domestic? The transportation cost of chemical batteries from Nanjing to Shanghai can be greatly reduced.

But according to UBS's research report, LG? The price of chemical batteries is nearly 20% higher than that of Panasonic batteries, and Tesla is not stupid. After all, the transportation expenses saved are all in the battery price, and everyone knows that wool is on sheep.

Negotiation with Ning is very fragrant.

It is also mentioned in the original text that the price negotiated with Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. is expected to be greatly reduced on the original basis. According to reliable sources, Tesla hopes that the battery price of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. will drop by 20%.

If the price is agreed, Che Jujun can only say that the price of such a battery is really fragrant. No wonder Tesla chose the lithium iron phosphate battery of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd..

Second, the advantages and disadvantages of lithium iron phosphate battery compared with ternary lithium battery

One advantage of lithium iron phosphate battery over ternary lithium battery is its low cost, as mentioned above. In addition, there are advantages such as high safety and sufficient output (look at this posture, Tesla is going to do a big job in China).

In fact, the above mainly introduces the low-cost advantages of lithium iron phosphate battery, and the following focuses on some shortcomings:

Low energy density

Energy density is also directly linked to battery life, and battery life and battery density have always been one of the biggest bottlenecks of electric vehicles.

The "energy density" is also clearly stated in the subsidy standard for new energy passenger cars, and the "energy density of battery system is not lower than 125Wh/kg" is also clearly stated in the technical requirements for new energy passenger cars. It can be seen that the country is also encouraging new forces to actively explore and innovate to improve energy density.

In the past few years, the energy density of phosphoric acid batteries can reach 120Wh/kg, which is unprecedented, but it is not worth mentioning if such parameters are replaced by ternary lithium batteries.

Fortunately, many enterprises are trying to improve it. For example, BYD's blade battery technology can increase the energy density of the battery to 140Wh/kg, and the battery used by Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. for Volkswagen pure electric light truck adopts CTP technology, and the energy density can be increased to 160Wh/kg. Even so, there is still a certain gap with the ternary lithium battery of 180Wh/kg.

Poor low temperature performance

For many batteries, it has long been an indisputable fact that battery performance will decline at low temperature. Both lithium iron phosphate batteries and ternary lithium batteries have this problem, but the performance of the former is much worse than that of the latter at low temperature.

Poor low-temperature performance is mainly concentrated in two points:

The actual battery life of lithium iron phosphate battery is obviously shorter than that of ternary lithium battery under the same low temperature environment and the same power consumption.

The charging speed of lithium iron phosphate battery is obviously slower than that of ternary lithium battery in the same low temperature environment and the same amount of electricity.

Jeju tubercle

For the rear-drive vehicle installed by Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. in China? Regarding whether the energy density of lithium iron phosphate battery on the No.3 battery can exceed 125Wh/kg, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. responded: Yes.

Some insiders pointed out: Tesla is in Model? The three types of batteries have a clear division of labor:

-Domestic rear-drive standard endurance mode? 3. Lithium iron phosphate battery of contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd.;

-Will the domestically produced rear-drive long-life car be domestically produced soon? 3.3: ternary lithium battery of LG Chemical Nanjing Factory;

-Now imported all-wheel drive long-life high-performance models? 3: Panasonic ternary lithium battery;

Actually, this is not the final answer. Because Tesla has long planned to make its own battery, and clearly responded to this at the 20 19 financial report meeting. So, let's go and have a look.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.