Transcription
Many of you have commented about lithium iron phosphate battery chemistry, LFP. It's the future of lithium-ion batteries. There's a lot of companies going that direction, and the claims are it's safer technology. But is it really?
[Music]
Safer? Lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, is another type of battery chemistry. Now, remember, lithium-ion battery, that's just a generic term for many different battery chemistries, and that's where a lot of the work is being done in developing lithium-ion batteries. Lots of different chemistries out there, lots of chemistries in electric vehicles, e-mobility devices, energy storage. You know, these chemistries are mixed and matched between all these different industries. LFP, or lithium iron phosphate, that's just one of the newer chemistries, and that's the chemistry that a lot of manufacturers are starting to go with.
Now, one of the most common videos that I keep getting linked in the comments is from BYD. If you're not familiar, BYD is probably one of the largest battery manufacturers out there for lithium-ion batteries, and they're a Chinese-based company. Now, their new Blade Battery is lithium iron phosphate chemistry, and there's tests out there side by side with the nail penetration test showing that their batteries don't fail. I've got my suspicions on what's going on in these batteries. You can see some of my other videos, like "Why State of Charge Matters," for example, and that might help clue you in on what's going on. But ultimately, these batteries can fail, and these batteries can fail catastrophically. They're no different than any other lithium-ion battery chemistry on the market today.
Now, UL Fire Safety Research Institute has done a number of tests on different battery chemistries causing these batteries to fail. And what they found out is, yes, in a way, lithium iron phosphate, LFP, it's a little bit safer than traditional battery chemistries. A lot of battery chemistries, when you start looking at lithium-ion batteries, they start failing around 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, with LFP, that number's kicked up just a little bit, right around 4 to 500 degrees. Now, what's actually failing is the separator material. It's the material between the anode and the cathode, keeping those batteries from shorting internally.
Another issue when you start looking at the battery chemistry for LFP is the amount of gases or the type of gases being released. Now, if you look at an older battery chemistry, like lithium nickel cobalt oxide, NCA, when that battery fails, it gives off about 28% hydrogen, 15% hydrocarbons, and the rest is CO, CO2. Now, those are the larger components of what's being given off when that battery fails, when it off-gasses. But then you look at a battery chemistry like LFP, and that's closer to 50% hydrogen being given off. So, a lot more flammable gas is being given off by a failure involving a lithium iron phosphate battery.
Now, another stat you can look at is burning velocity. NCA, that type of battery chemistry, that actually burns at 51 centimeters per second. On the other hand, material like LFP, lithium iron phosphate, it burns much more energetically. It actually burns 120% faster than older battery chemistries at 112 centimeters per second. So, ultimately, in some ways, yes, LFP is safer. It takes a little bit more effort, a little bit more energy to cause these batteries to fail. However, when an LFP battery fails, it's burning far more energetically, very close to the properties of acetylene, and it's definitely burning a lot more energetic when compared to other older battery chemistries.
You see a lot of videos out there on YouTube of people puncturing these batteries, trying to cause them to fail, and what they're finding is there's not a lot of fire involved. And that's because, if you look, these videos have a lot of material being off-gassed. Those gases are highly flammable, and because you're outside, because it's in a well-vented atmosphere, it's not building up, it's not causing much of an issue. But remember, when these batteries are inside a battery pack, they're confined, they're tightly sealed, they're packed together, and that's where you start seeing the issues.
Now, a lot of the data I spoke to today comes from UL Fire Safety Research Institute. I really recommend popping over to the website if you want to do a deeper dive, look at the data yourself, and come to a better understanding of what's going on with this type of battery chemistry.