Gotion lists Astroinno batteries and LMFP cells: 240 Wh/kg nickel and cobalt free

There is an abundance of lithium batteries, but in principle two currents can be observed in electromobility today, between which LMFP, which we will talk about today. It should combine the advantages of both and eliminate their disadvantages. The first stream aims at NCA, NCM and similar types that use controversial materials such as cobalt or nickel. Their advantage is a high energy density (today in a wide range of approx. 240-300 Wh/kg at the cell level), unfortunately they are expensive due to the above-mentioned materials, they are among the less safe (the risk of fire is dealt with at the level of their packaging and cooling), service life it is sufficient for the vast majority of cases, but not always, especially if the size of the battery is underestimated, and it is also not recommended to charge it to 100%.

The second stream is LFP batteries, which are iron-based. They are therefore a bit more ecological, have a much longer service life, which by the number of cycles outlives most cars many times over (aging remains an unanswered question), they don’t mind being charged to 100%, on the other hand, they don’t really like the winter (even less than the first group) and have very low energy density (usually around 160-170 Wh/kg). As a result, these batteries are mainly used in entry-level models of electric cars (eg Tesla’s Standard Range, most Chinese cars), while models with larger batteries have NMC/NCA. Due to the low density, despite the fact that they store much less energy, cars with them are similar in weight to those with a much larger battery (in kWh). However, they are also used in basic versions due to their low price. That is also why Ford or Volkswagen, for example, want to deploy them in basic versions by next year (Ford is building a factory in Michigan for LFP for USD 3.5 billion, Volkswagen will have LFP from Gotion from next year, which will be discussed today. By the way, he invested 1.2 billion USD in it).

Now that we know what problems these batteries have, let’s take a look at the company’s new batteries Gotion. She introduced a new one LMFP Articles L600 and battery pack Astroinno. The presented values ​​are very good, because CATL is about 195-205 Wh/kg for LMFP, CALB is about 200 Wh/kg, but Gotion managed to achieve a density even 240 Wh/kg. That’s an iron-based accumulator of excellent value, beating today’s LFP by half. It is also a number that already matches the density of weaker NCM/NCA cells, which could mean that such cells could replace not only LFP in versions with a standard range, but also NCM/NCA in those with an extended range. After all, Gotion introduced the technology on the 140kWh variant. At a lower price, this should mean a reduction in the price of electric cars even in variants with a longer range and perhaps a further increase in their safety.

We also know more details about Gotion L600 batteries. In addition to the mass density of 240 Wh/kg, it is also volumetric 525 Wh/l. It already belongs to the lower ones, here the NCM/NCA are usually above 700 Wh/l. As for the entire Astroinno battery with these cells, the density reaches 190 Wh/kg (a 100kWh battery would thus weigh 526 kg, the above-mentioned 140kWh battery for a range of approx. 1000 km weighs 737 kg, which despite all these advances is still an insane weight , however, in classic LFP it would have a little over a ton). The manufacturer says that sandwich construction, double-sided liquid cooling and a minimalist design have been used for a 45% saving in structural components and a 32% reduction in their weight.

In terms of lifespan, at room temperatures there are 4000 cycles, which would be about 1.45 million km for a car with a real range of 400 km. At high temperatures, however, it drops to 1,800 cycles, but even that would mean a service life of about 650,000 km with the same 400 km range. Gotion should start production of these cells in 2024, however, we know how it goes, and I would probably add a bit of pessimism and maybe throw in half a year (end of 2024, maybe first half of 2025?). We also know that they are supposed to support fast charging up to 80% in 18 minutes (but we don’t know from what percentage) and they will retain 88% of their capacity even at temperatures of -20°C. They also alleviate the problem of frost, to which LFP cells are quite sensitive.