China-based battery company Gotion High-tech introduced its L600 Astroinno battery cell and pack with LMFP materials on May 19. It claimed the product was the first non-NCM battery that can offer a driving range of up to 1,000 kilometers.
After 10 years of in-house research, Gotion plans to start mass-producing the battery in 2024, according to Cheng Qian, the company's executive president for the international business unit.
He said lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology has regained recognition as its market share continues to increase. However, the technology has hit a roadblock in energy density growth. The upgraded lithium iron manganese phosphate(LMFP) battery was developed to improve the performance, Cheng added.
According to Gotion, the Astroinno LMFP cell has a weight energy density of 240Wh/kg and a cycle life of 4,000 times at room temperature. The cell helps the volumetric cell-to-pack ratio reach 76%. It also enables the battery system energy density to be 190Wh/kg, higher than what a nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) battery pack offers.
Volkswagen-backed Gotion said the LMFP battery pack has achieved a range of 1,000 kilometers, the first non-NCM battery to do so in the industry. The technology also realized more than 1,800 cycles of 18-minute fast charging.
LFP and ternary battery materials like NCM dominate the cathode materials of lithium batteries, especially for EVs. Data from China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance showed that the country produced 113.4GWh of LFP batteries and 63.3GWh of ternary batteries for the first fourth months of 2023.
As for battery installation in EVs, LFP batteries accounted for 68.2% of the usage and ternary batteries took up 31.7%.
According to China-based The Paper, CATL's Qilin battery and Svolt's Dragon Armor battery also boast a range of up to 1,000 kilometers, but only when adopting the NCM chemistry. In comparison, Gotion's LMFP battery will likely be more competitive in cost and material supply without using rare metals like nickel and cobalt.
Gotion said the Astroinno battery pack reduces the number of structural parts by 45% and the weight by 32%. With the minimalist electrical design, the length of the battery pack wiring harness drops from 303 to 80 meters, the company added.
Regarding safety, Gotion said the battery system is made with thermal insulation materials that can withstand a temperature of up to 1,200° Celsius. The materials also provide four layers of protection through rapid heat-exhausting channels set for extreme circumstances and an active safety battery management system.
