[SMM Analysis] SMM launches two new price points for LFP (high-end power battery and high-end energy storage), has the high-end application development of LFP been established?

On June 28, SMM officially launched price points for LFP (high-end power battery) and LFP (high-end energy storage).

In recent years, LFP have made significant progress in energy density, compaction, and capacity per gram, gradually meeting the growing demand in the new energy market.

For example, LFP for high-end power batteries meets the needs of the NEV market for better mileage and fast charging. Previously, due to the limitations of LFP energy density, LFP batteries were only used in some mid-to-low-end NEV models. Now, we see some NEV brands' high-end models priced over 200,000 yuan also gradually adopting LFP batteries, with their mileage and fast-charging performance recognized by the market. LFP batteries are also safer, giving consumers more confidence when choosing battery types.

LFP for high-end energy storage meets the needs of the energy storage market for high cycle times and stable battery cell performance. Although the energy storage market does not pursue extremely good energy density like the NEV market to achieve better mileage, current energy storage battery cells are evolving from 280Ah to 314Ah, with some battery cell manufacturers even proposing development directions for 600Ah+ energy storage battery cells. The higher the energy density of energy storage cells, the lower the cost per watt-hour for battery cell manufacturers. In the highly competitive energy storage market, reducing battery cell costs is also a way for manufacturers to enhance their competitiveness.

To meet the increasing demands of the NEV and energy storage markets, LFP cathode material producers are also developing high-compaction, high-energy-density cathode materials for power batteries, as well as high-cycle, consistent, and stable energy storage cathode materials for energy storage. They are also launching their 3rd, 3.5th, and 4th generation products, with new products actively undergoing validation and vehicle testing. The 3rd and 3.5th generation products have already achieved mass production, and LFP cathode materials are gradually moving towards high-end development.

After a period of survey and deliberation, SMM has enriched and improved the LFP price points in line with technological advancements. This allows upstream and downstream companies in the LFP industry to better understand the price changes of low, mid, and high-end products, improves market transparency, promotes healthy industry development, and supports the continuous growth of the new energy industry.

The specific specifications for the two newly launched price points are as follows:

LFP (high-end power battery): 0.1C discharge capacity per gram ≥156mAh/g, compacted density ≥2.55g/cm³, approximately 3000-4000 cycles at 80% retention rate.

LFP (high-end energy storage): 0.1C discharge capacity per gram ≥155mAh/g, compacted density ≥2.40g/cm³, over 10,000 cycles at 80% retention rate.

The widespread adoption of fast charging in NEVs today imposes higher requirements on charging and discharging, such as 2C, 3C, and 4C fast charging, which will correspondingly change the capacity per gram. The above specifications only reflect the performance under 0.1C discharge conditions.

The high-end application development of LFP helps LFP cathode material producers stabilize their market base, consolidate market share in a competitive environment, and seek more development opportunities. High-end, high-quality LFP products and capacity are relatively scarce, so cathode material plants with high-quality products will have stronger pricing power, gaining more advantages and initiative in negotiating high-end product prices or processing fees.