FOCUS: The war between EV battery cathodes

Lithium iron phosphate batteries have recently regained their position as the preferred option among original equipment manufacturers in China, casting doubt on the forecast dominance of the alternative nickel-cobalt-manganese lithium-ion batteries in the country's electric vehicle battery supply chain.

The situation has also raised questions about whether the change in sentiment would be mirrored outside China.
The output of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in China surpassed that of nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) units in May 2021. Some market sources noted that it was the first time in three years that the former has exceeded the latter in terms of output.
LFP batteries are among the earliest well-developed electric vehicle (EV) battery technologies in China, and are well known for their stable and safe performance, despite their overall low energy density compared with NCM batteries.
The higher the energy density an EV battery has, the greater the driving range of the vehicle on a single charge.

In the second half of the past decade, most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in China shifted to NCM lithium-ion batteries in an attempt to achieve higher battery energy density. This change in battery chemistries was...

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