An ongoing debate within the auto industry about which type of battery to put in electric vehicles is not going in favor of the millions of Americans living in colder climates. Multiple brands are switching from the current standard, nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), to a cheaper, more abundant version, known as lithium iron phosphate (LFP)—primarily on their cheaper vehicles.
There are plenty of pros and cons for both chemistries, though a known con of LFP batteries is their range drops faster in cold weather due to lower energy density. However, their lower cost and higher availability are appealing to car companies seeking to reduce vehicle wait times and keep prices down as the cost of NCM materials is at an all-time high.
Sub-par performance in cold weather is a known EV issue, even with LCM batteries that power the majority of EVs today. Multiple lawsuits claim brands like Tesla(Opens in a new window) and BMW(Opens in a new window) overstate vehicle range given they are simply not achievable in cold temperatures. In PCMag’s own testing of a brand-new Tesla this winter in Chicago, the vehicle got half the advertised range.
“On average EVs lose about 40% of their range in cold temperatures,” says Greg Bannon, director of automotive research at AAA, which published a detailed study(Opens in a new window) on the topic. “You can find yourself in a situation where you thought you could get to where you’re going, but then your range is as much as 50-60% less than advertised. So yeah, it’s a real issue for people in cold climates and we’ve shouted it from the rooftops.”
Carmakers have their backs against the wall between high costs and the desire to accelerate their rapidly growing EV businesses. The Biden administration also wants 50% of new car sales to be electric by 2030. Six states (and counting) have committed to 100% electric after 2035. Many questions regarding infrastructure and vehicle price, as well as cold weather performance, must be solved to make this transition fair for a wide variety of drivers.
Making LFPs ‘Standard’
In November, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told(Opens in a new window) the Wall Street Journal that it’s “quite bullish on LFP,” which the company uses in its standard range models. Rivian reported significant financial losses in Q3 2022, making cost-effective LFP an attractive option. It declined to comment when asked about the potential performance drawbacks of LFPs in cold weather.
Tesla is also using LFP batteries in at least half(Opens in a new window) of its more affordable standard range vehicles to keep costs down.
Last week, Ford announced it will follow suit and move away from 100% NCM in the coming years. A new Michigan battery plant will manufacture LFP batteries, which Ford will swap into certain vehicles that use NCM today.
“Mitigating the current supply chain limitation by diversifying battery chemistry does make sense,” says Gleb Yushin, CTO and co-founder of Sila(Opens in a new window), which makes silicon battery materials. “The shift from high-performance, nickel-based NCM chemistry to lower performance but also lower-cost, iron-based LFP chemistry will likely enable Ford to accelerate its electrification roadmap. But this move does come at a cost.”
LFP and NCM: What’s the Difference?
LFP’s reduced energy density comes down to the material properties. All EV batteries comprise two main components: an anode and a cathode. Both LFP and NCM typically have the same anode, made of graphite, but different metals in the cathode. NCM uses lithium, cobalt, and manganese, and LFP uses lithium and iron.
“NCM has a layered, densely packed crystal structure,” Yushin explains. “This enables high lithium storage per unit volume. In contrast, LFP has a much more open, olivine crystal structure, which does not allow lithium storage to be dense.”
He also notes that LFP batteries suffer from both lower battery voltage and smaller volumetric capacity, two main reasons for lower LFP energy density.
Does My EV Have LFP or NCM?
Today, EV shoppers can see a vehicle’s EPA-estimated range—i.e. 250 miles—but the EPA and auto industry lack a standard way to convey a range floor with repeated use in cold weather. The need for such a metric increases once LFP batteries become more commonplace. However, the companies already using them have chosen not to disclose battery type to future customers.
For example, Rivian’s online vehicle configurator makes no mention of LFP or NCM. Instead, buyers can choose a standard range truck (260 miles), which likely runs on an LFP, spend an extra $6,000 for a “large pack” (328 miles), or add $16,000 for a “max pack” (400 miles).
The same goes for Tesla, though Tesla offers a way for vehicle owners to check their battery type after the vehicle is in hand. “Some vehicles are equipped with a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) Battery,” says Tesla’s website(Opens in a new window). “To determine if your vehicle is equipped with an LFP battery, navigate to Controls > Software > Additional Vehicle Information.”
If customers have an LFP vehicle, they can regularly charge to 100%. This is a benefit over NCM, which is only recommended to charge to 80-90%, especially for customers in warmer weather, where the cars will retain the extra power more easily.
Ford is also not planning to disclose battery type to customers, even if its LFP announcement suggests customers can choose. “Offering LFP as a second battery chemistry—in addition to nickel cobalt manganese (NCM)—allows Ford customers to choose an electric vehicle with unique battery performance characteristics most aligned with their needs,” Ford says(Opens in a new window).
When PCMag asked whether customers will specifically select an LFP or NCM vehicle, Ford said not exactly. “Customers won’t choose a specific battery chemistry,” says Hannah Ooms, communications manager for Ford’s battery division.
When asked about the features cold weather customers should look for, Ooms recommended they select an extended range version if buying today, while Ford vehicles are 100% LCM. Once LFP vehicles hit the market, they should “have a conversation with their dealers.” It’s unclear at this point what additional knowledge dealers will have to help cold weather customers.
Extended range versions cost tens of thousands more than standard range. Take the Ford F-150 Lightning, XLT trim, for example. The standard range model has 230 miles and starts at $63,474. The extended range goes 320 miles, and starts at $80,974. In cold weather, it may only regularly achieve 192 miles, to use AAA’s 40% range reduction estimate. This effectively pushes buyers to spend the extra cash for an extended range today, before LFP batteries enter the mix.
Extended range versions cost tens of thousands more than standard range. Take the Ford F-150 Lightning, XLT trim, for example. The standard range model has 230 miles and starts at $63,474. The extended range goes 320 miles, and starts at $80,974. In cold weather, it may only regularly achieve 192 miles, to use AAA’s 40% range reduction estimate. This effectively pushes buyers to spend the extra cash for an extended range today, before LFP batteries enter the mix.
There is another issue with LFP batteries: reduced pickup truck towing power. “For an F-150 Lightning customer [who] often tows or hauls, NCM batteries will be a great fit…because those customers value the power and longer range made possible by NCMs,” Ooms says.
Once Ford introduces LFP batteries, only the more expensive, extended range pickups will achieve the baseline capabilities customers switching from gas-powered trucks are expecting.
Endless Pros and Cons
LFP batteries offer unique benefits, like the lack of cobalt, which has come under fire for inhumane mining(Opens in a new window) conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are also less likely to catch fire based on their chemical properties.
But, they’re heavier. Given their lower energy density, it takes a bigger battery to get the range customers are expecting. Adding more ultra-heavy vehicles on the road will increase that risk of deadly crashes, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) warns.
LFP batteries are also less recycling-friendly than NCM. “NCM is more expensive only because it uses more expensive raw materials, particularly nickel,” Yushin says. “When you recycle NCM, you can get nearly all the valuables, all the metals back, so there is a significant economic value in that. In contrast, iron is very cheap.”
This makes it harder for recyclers to turn a profit on reselling the raw materials, so there’s little incentive to create a recycling industry for LFP. Thus, there’s a need for more mining and importation of new foreign materials.
Both battery types affect different customers for different reasons. But as the EV industry matures to include two distinct chemistries, car companies and the EPA owe consumers more concrete information on the trade-offs and what to expect from their vehicle.
