Trading day running commentary, page-3356

NCM battery VS LFP battery?

In fact, NCM battery and LFP battery are not absolutely good or bad, but each has its own merits.

The advantages of the NCM battery lie in two aspects: Energy storage density and low-temperature resistance.

Firstly, for energy storage density, the NCM battery has a higher voltage and its energy density can basically reach 240WH / kg, which is nearly 1.7 times of LFP battery density 140WH / kg.

Secondly, the low-temperature limit of the NCM battery is -30℃, which is more advantageous than the low-temperature limit of -20℃ of the LFP battery. At the same low-temperature condition, the attenuation of NCM battery in winter is less than 15% obviously better than the LFP battery attenuation up to 30%, more suitable for the northern market, which is why NCM battery sells well in the south, but it is difficult to open the market in the north.

However, LFP battery also has three advantages.

One is high safety performance, because the temperature of the LFP battery thermal runaway is generally above 500℃, and the temperature of NCM batteries is below 300℃. Some high-nickel batteries even below 200℃. Compared with NCM batteries, LFP batteries for vehicle high-speed driving and rapid charging process can highly reduce the spontaneous combustion risk.

The second is longer cycle life. LFP battery charge and discharge cycle number more than 2000 times before it decays,while the NCM battery charge and discharge cycle life is only 500 times, which shows the difference between the two.

The third is that the manufacturing cost is lower. because the LFP battery has no precious metal, so the production cost is lower. On the other hand, the NCM battery is made of cobalt, and 70% of its reserves are in Congo, Africa, which makes its import price skyrocket. The current price has reached $38,000 USD/ ton. LFP battery is more economical sometimes.