Heading Off Hazmat Headaches from Burning Batteries

The guy in this video does not, repeat, not, hate EVs, and he gets that climate is a crisis. But he makes some pretty strong points about fire concerns with legacy lithium ion EVs.
I’m sure that’s one huge driver behind the rapid move toward Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries, which have many advantages (see below) and are rapidly reaching performance parity with Lithium Ion.

Autoweek:

A better way of looking at electric vehicle fires is to compare the number of fires per 100,000 vehicles sold. Researchers from insurance deal site Auto Insurance EZ compiled sales and accident data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the National Transportation Safety Board. The site found that hybrid vehicles had the most fires per 100,000 sales at 3474.5. There were 1529.9 fires per 100k for gas vehicles and just 25.1 fires per 100k sales for electric vehicles.

The reason why it’s easy to think that electric car fires are so common is because EVs are still novel and still unknown to a large portion of the public. News and media outlets report on electric car fires more often because of its, which can make it seem like they are a common occurrence. What’s more, when there are highway vehicle fires, they can require a tremendous amount of effort from emergency personnel to extinguish the blaze. A chain reaction inside the batteries—sometimes called thermal runaway—can occur when the battery generates more heat than it can dissipate.

ON the other hand, more and more EVs are being fitted with Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries, which use no cobalt, no Nickel, perform better in the cold, have longer lives, and purportedly will not burn.

Relion:

Phosphate-based batteries offer superior chemical and mechanical structure that does not overheat to unsafe levels. Thus, providing an increase in safety over lithium-ion batteries made with other cathode materials. This is because the charged and uncharged states of LiFePO4 are physically similar and highly robust, which lets the ions remain stable during the oxygen flux that happens alongside charge cycles or possible malfunctions. Overall, the iron phosphate-oxide bond is stronger than the cobalt-oxide bond, so when the battery is overcharged or subject to physical damage then the phosphate-oxide bond remains structurally stable; whereas in other lithium chemistries the bonds begin breaking down and releasing excessive heat, which eventually leads to thermal Runaway.

Lithium phosphate cells are incombustible, which is an important feature in the event of mishandling during charging or discharging. They can also withstand harsh conditions, be it freezing cold, scorching heat or rough terrain. When subjected to hazardous events, such as collision or short-circuiting, they won’t explode or catch fire, significantly reducing any chance of harm. If you’re selecting a lithium battery and anticipate use in hazardous or unstable environments, LiFePO4 is likely your best choice. It’s also worth mentioning, LiFePO4 batteries are non-toxic, non-contaminating and contain no rare earth metals, making them an environmentally conscious choice.

Reuters:
As the auto industry scrambles to produce more affordable electric vehicles, whose most expensive components are the batteries, lithium iron phosphate is gaining traction as the EV battery material of choice.

The popularity of the chemical compound known as LFP is due partly to environmental and geopolitical concerns. But technological advances have also reduced the performance gap with more widely used materials such as nickel and cobalt.

LFP, embraced by EV industry leader Tesla (TSLA.O) two years ago, has sparked new interest especially in the U.S., where a clutch of domestic and overseas manufacturers has pledged more than $11 billion in new production facilities.

Overseas, two of the world’s largest automakers, Toyota Motor (7203.T) and Hyundai Motor (005380.KS), have both announced plans in the past week to equip their future vehicles with LFP batteries, but have not disclosed plans for the U.S.

“LFP is less expensive than cobalt and nickel, and all the minerals can be obtained here in North America (which means) much lower transportation costs and a more secure supply chain,” said Stanley Whittingham, professor at Binghamton University in New York and a 2019 Nobel laureate for his work on lithium ion batteries.

The addition of manganese, a staple ingredient in rival nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) battery cells, has enabled lithium iron phosphate cells to hold more energy than previously, providing EVs with more range — up to 450 miles (724 km) on a single charge, Toyota said recently.

Michigan-based Our Next Energy, which is building a $1.6 billion battery manufacturing complex in Van Buren Township, is a proponent of LFP, according to founder and chief executive Mujeeb Ijaz, because “the materials are more abundant and sustainable, with far less risk” of fire.

“We’ve also demonstrated that you can match the range of cobalt cells with no compromise,” he said.

Tesla is among the automakers leading the quest in markets outside of China to provide lower-priced EVs – in Tesla’s case, targeting a base price of around $25,000. The use of LFP batteries should help Tesla and rivals to achieve that goal, experts say.

Ford Motor (F.N) aims to open a $3.5 billion LFP cell manufacturing plant in western Michigan, leveraging technology licensed from China’s CATL (300750.SZ), the world’s largest EV battery maker. The goal, Ford CEO Jim Farley said in February, is to lower the automaker’s cell costs to less than $70 a kilowatt-hour, from more than $100/kWh for current NCM cells.

More than 90% of LFP materials and components still come from China, said battery expert Shirley Meng, a University of Chicago professor and head of Argonne National Laboratory’s Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science.

The rapidly increasing adoption of LFP by EV manufacturers including Tesla and Hyundai suggests those companies “are not ready to decouple from China,” Meng said.

‘ATTRACTIVE PROPOSITION’

Battery expert Lukasz Bednarski, author of the 2021 book “Lithium: The Global Race for Battery Dominance and the New Energy Revolution,” believes automakers’ interest in building lower-priced EVs could be one of the drivers behind LFP’s rising popularity.

“LFP provides good enough performance at a lower cost, which makes it an attractive proposition for EVs for the middle class,” he said.