Ford announced on Monday that it is planning to install lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in its vehicles. Mustang Mach-E starting later in the calendar year 2023 and Lightning F-150 in the calendar year 2024.
Change will be able to bring lower EV pricesthough that will “depend on what happens to the market,” according to Ford Model E customer manager Marin Gjaja.
The CEO added: “The whole point here is to make these things more affordable and accessible.”
The Mach-E Standard Range will receive LFP cells starting later this year, the F-150 Standard Range early next year—with the change likely not to happen at the same time but rather a level cut at a time. The extended range and anything performance oriented will stay with the existing nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) chemistry used in those models today.
From 2026, LFP cells for Ford products will come from one Michigan battery factory was established with technology from CATL of China. Meanwhile, the cells for these products may come from one of CATL’s factories in China.
Ford compares NCM and LFP . batteries
Benefits of Ford LFP . batteries
Reasons behind switching to LFP
In a presentation Monday, Ford outlined some of the reasons behind the change. LFP batteries have outstanding durability, and they can help enhance supply chains while using less raw materials and high-cost, high-demand minerals. Additionally, they can be charged from 0% to 100% daily—this is not recommended for the NCM chemicals currently used in the F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit if not required. use full range.
Ford also notes that because of these characteristics, LFP batteries are also a preferred choice for two-way charging, as already supplied with a Power bank F-150 Lightning at home system.
On the other hand, LFP cells are generally sluggish and slow to charge faster at the coldest ambient temperatures. They are also not the best choice for high performance or the longest range, in part because they are heavier for the same amount of power; but as Ford emphasizes in the strategy below, they only see LFP batteries as primarily serving the low-end market and fleet.
Ford’s multi-chemistry approach to electric vehicle batteries
Another type of lithium-ion
As a subset of lithium-ion battery technology, LFP cells use lithium iron phosphate as the cathode and graphite as the electrode. These cells are much less susceptible to heat loss that can cause fire or deterioration due to overheating; A variety of sources also now show they last significantly longer.
LFP cells do not depend on nickel and cobalt, two materials that are expensive, limited in supply and a big boost to the supply chain.
About one-fifth of the world’s electric vehicles are powered by LFP cells. Technology, led by China’s BYD a decade ago, has evolved into the latest form in BYD . blade batterywhile CATL is also a leading manufacturer.
Ford compares battery form factors, switches to LFP
Ford-CATL LFP Prism Cell for Mach-E, F-150 Lightning
Change in form factor, too
The Ford executive noted that the battery chemistry won’t be the only thing changing on vehicles switching to LFP. The battery form factor will also be completely different. These models will use prismatic cells compared to the pocket cells used in current models; and they will get bigger. Ford notes, with more than double the power in ampere-hours.
That means fewer cell-to-cell transactions, which helps mitigate some of the energy loss from these less-powerful cells, explains Ford.
Ford didn’t further explain what this means for the future in terms of the actual package layout — or to what extent that might mean skipping future modules or packages. For example, CATL has what it calls a “breakthrough” water-cooled design that allows cell-to-package layout with impressive energy densities to rival that of more expensive cell types.
Ford F-150 Lightning 2023
Informed by final data and costs
The company has emphasized that the switch to LFP cells is part of its decision to diversify its battery products to better match product usage and customer needs.
Ford’s Connected Vehicle Data Team studied anonymized, aggregated vehicle data to understand how their electric vehicles are being used. And from there, it discovered that the average Mustang Mach-E driver typically only travels 32 miles a day, with an average of just 5 miles at a time. Additionally, 95% of customers using Mach-E start their rides in ambient temperatures above freezing.
It says it doesn’t have full year data on F-150 Lightning usage yet, but can see that 89% of customers start their rides above freezing.
Ford E Transit 2022
Ford has not confirmed that LFP batteries are also being included E-Transit . delivery truck soon, but as the chart itself above shows, the fleet’s vehicles seem to meet the standard of models that are charged 100% daily.
