Tesla, CATL, and BYD are all optimistic that lithium iron phosphate may usher in another glorious moment

The news that Tesla will use Ningde Times' lithium iron phosphate batteries has caused a stir. With BYD's "blade" battery and Ningde Times' CTP and other technological innovations, the "power" of lithium iron phosphate batteries

The technological progress of lithium iron phosphate batteries has indeed been rapid. According to data provided by CATL, the volume utilization rate of its CTP battery pack has increased by 15%-20%, and the overall energy density has been greatly improved; BYD's blade battery volume energy density has increased by up to 50%, and more cells can be installed within the same battery pack size, and the driving range is almost comparable to that of ternary batteries; Guoxuan High-tech's lithium iron phosphate battery cell energy density has increased to 190Wh/kg, and has been equipped with models with a driving range of more than 400km.

Lithium iron phosphate has become hot again. In response to this, many investors have recently asked listed companies questions related to "lithium iron phosphate" on interactive platforms, and many listed companies have responded. Recently, lithium iron phosphate concept stocks have collectively strengthened, with many stocks hitting their daily limit. The butterfly effect set off by Tesla continues to expand.

Shida Shenghua said that compared with ternary batteries, the production of lithium iron phosphate batteries with the same electrical power requires more DMC solvent. The company's ultra-pure DMC and battery-grade DMC can be used in high-end electrolytes and lithium batteries. The difference between the two lies in purity. The purity of ultra-pure DMC is higher than that of battery-grade DMC. On February 21, Shida Shenghua's stock price rose by the daily limit.

Hezong Technology said that its wholly-owned subsidiary Hunan Yacheng mainly produces lithium iron phosphate battery cathode precursor products, which are mainly used in the manufacturing and processing of lithium iron phosphate cathode materials. In 2020, the company is developing a new generation of high compaction density iron phosphate and low-cost iron phosphate. On February 19, Hezong Technology's stock price rose by the daily limit.

Xiangtan Electric said that the company currently does not produce lithium iron phosphate, and only its joint venture Hunan Yuneng New Energy Battery Materials Co., Ltd. is a supplier of CATL. The company currently holds only 16.07% of the shares in the above-mentioned joint venture, and the impact on the company's performance is still uncertain. However, it is worth noting that Xiangtan Electric has had four trading days of daily limit from February 17 to 21.

Anada said that the main business of its subsidiary Tongling Nayuan is the production and sales of iron phosphate, including lithium iron phosphate precursors and battery-grade iron phosphate, and the iron phosphate plant has an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons. On February 19, Anada's stock price rose by the daily limit. Baichuan shares said that the company has related projects with an overall product scale of 100,000 tons of iron phosphate, 15,000 tons of lithium iron phosphate, 15,000 tons of lithium iron manganese phosphate, and 30,000 tons of ternary precursor materials per year, and the project is being implemented in phases.

Xiongtao shares said that the company has been conducting research and production of lithium iron phosphate batteries for many years. At present, the company's lithium battery products are mainly based on lithium iron phosphate systems. Zangge Holdings said that the battery-grade lithium carbonate produced by the company is the main raw material for directly producing positive electrode materials for lithium iron phosphate batteries. Zhihui Songde said that the battery equipment produced by Chaoye Precision, which the company is acquiring, is mainly used in the middle and back-end processes and can be used for the production of ternary batteries or lithium iron phosphate batteries.

From the perspective of upstream supply, the domestic output of lithium iron phosphate positive electrode materials in 2019 was about 93,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 36.1%. From the current market structure, data from the Power Battery Application Branch of the China Chemical and Physical Power Sources Industry Association showed that in the ranking of domestic lithium iron phosphate battery installed capacity in 2019, CATL ranked first with 11.28GWh, with a market share of 54.27%; Guoxuan High-tech ranked second with 3.13GWh, with a market share of 15.04%; BYD ranked third with 2.78GWh, with a market share of 13.37%; Yiwei Lithium Energy ranked fourth with 1.67GWh, with a market share of 8.06%; these are the leading companies, and the installed capacity of other companies alone is less than 1GWh, and the head effect is obvious.

In fact, lithium iron phosphate batteries began to pick up in the second half of 2019. Thanks to the decline in subsidies, the cost advantage of lithium iron phosphate batteries has become more obvious. They are safer and attractive to cost-sensitive A00 vehicles and special-purpose vehicles. The mainstream of passenger cars is still dominated by ternary batteries. As the electric vehicle industry will shift from policy-driven to market-driven in the next few years, mid- and low-end models will be more sensitive to battery costs, and lithium iron phosphate batteries will have a more cost-effective advantage.

As early as the beginning of 2019, BAIC New Energy EC220 added a new standard version, and the power battery pack was replaced with lithium iron phosphate batteries. Also in 2019, JAC Motors launched a new electric vehicle model iEV7L, which is also equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries. JAC Motors believes that for consumers in my country's third- and fourth-tier cities, low-priced and long-life lithium iron phosphate batteries are more competitive.

This year, in addition to Tesla Model 3 and BYD Han, the new Baojun E300 was officially unveiled at the beginning of the year. As the first new energy vehicle in the new Baojun family, the E300 carries the heavy responsibility of the new Baojun entering the new energy vehicle market. The model is equipped with a battery pack with a capacity of 16.8kWh, and the battery used is not ternary, but lithium iron phosphate.

Industry analysts believe that lithium iron phosphate battery technology is mature and has obvious cost advantages. It has always dominated the new energy vehicle battery field, especially in the electric buses, logistics vehicles and other commercial vehicles and special-purpose vehicles markets. With the decline of domestic new energy vehicle subsidies and technologies such as CTP further reducing the cost of lithium iron phosphate batteries and increasing their energy density, lithium iron phosphate batteries will also be able to show their prowess in the passenger car field.