Lithium & The Future, page-1649

Hello there @sinkorswim,

Quick question for you: I can't find any sources with more info on China's rumoured ban on low density LiFePo4 in favour of NMC, NCA etc. Do you know when this ban is supposed to come into force? And can you please suggest any Chinese sites where we can find more details please? My research suggests that China's battery industry is transitioning to higher density (Cobalt containing NMC and NCA etc) batteries as fast as it possibly can anyway, but an outright ban on LiFePo4 will certainly put the wind in their sails and be a massive, massive win for Cobalt producers and NMC/NCA cathode makers.

However, if the price of Cobalt shoots up as predicted, I wonder if a ideal way forward would be a two-tier Li EV battery market in China where cheap micro city EV's that stick to the city centre continue to use low density LiFePo4, and big and fast competitors to Tesla - which need range and speed all move to NMC and NCA. An outright ban would make this tricky.

Thoughts?

Happy travels in China!

Solarbat