LIFEPO4 BatteryLiFePO4 - a special breed of lithium-ion batteries
Lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries are based on the original lithium-ion chemistry, but LiFePO4 is used as the cathode material instead of lithium cobalt dioxide (LiCoO2). The latter is found in the most commonly used batteries in laptops, cell phones, MP3 players, etc.
LiFePO4 is an intrinsically safer cathode material than LiCoO2 since exothermic reactions can not occur in batteries based on this material: LiFePO4 cells do not incinerate or explode under extreme conditions. In addition, LiFePO4 cells have a higher discharge current, are not toxic and have a much higher cycle life than LiCoO2 cells.
The above characteristics make LiFePO4 the ideal chemistry for electric vehicle applications.
Battery system design
LiFePO4 cells can be purchased from various suppliers with diverse characteristic and price levels. The art of engineering a full-sized EV battery system is to select the proper cells, design the battery pack and battery management system (BMS) -taking geometric, thermal and electric constraints into account- and select the appropriate charger.
Compare with other kinds of lithium battery
|
|
C-LiFePO4 |
LiCoO2 |
LiMn2O4 |
Li(NiCo)O2 |
|
SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN |
Excellent, Best among all existing batteries |
Not stable every dangerous |
Acceptable |
Not stable very dangerous |
|
CYCLE LIFE |
Excellent Best among all the listed groups |
Acceptable |
Unacceptable |
Acceptable |
|
POWER WEIGHT DENSITY |
Acceptable |
Good |
Acceptable |
Best |
|
LONG TERM COST |
Excellent Most economic |
High |
Acceptable |
High |
|
WORKING TEMP. |
Excellent -45C–70C |
Decayed beyond -20C – 55C |
Decayed extremely fast over 50C |
Decayed extremely fast over -20C – 55C |
|
REMARK |
1.Although, Lead Acid battery is lower in cost and safety acceptable; however, with extremely toxic, worse for the environmental concern, short cycle life, heavy in weight, therefore, we don't put it as a group for comparison. 2. Nickel Hydride battery has a characteristic of low Power Weight Density, decayed faster under the high temperature, worse in memory effect, not suitable for high output usage. 3. The C-coated Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery has been proven as the most environmental friendly battery. It is the safest and most suitable for high output usage. It is also the best for storage battery usage. |
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