LiFePO4 - a special breed of lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries are based on the original lithium-ion chemistry, but LiFePO4 is used as the cathode material instead of lithium cobalt dioxide (LiCoO2). The latter is found in the most commonly used batteries in laptops, cell phones, MP3 players, etc.

LiFePO4 is an intrinsically safer cathode material than LiCoO2 since exothermic reactions can not occur in batteries based on this material: LiFePO4 cells do not incinerate or explode under extreme conditions. In addition, LiFePO4 cells have a higher discharge current, are not toxic and have a much higher cycle life than LiCoO2 cells.

The above characteristics make LiFePO4 the ideal chemistry for electric vehicle applications.

Battery system design

LiFePO4 cells can be purchased from various suppliers with diverse characteristic and price levels. The art of engineering a full-sized EV battery system is to select the proper cells, design the battery pack and battery management system (BMS) -taking geometric, thermal and electric constraints into account- and select the appropriate charger.

SP Innovation's partner Amberjac Projects has ample experience in designing, testing and implementing such systems. Please contact us for more information or for a quotation.