LITHIUM IRON PHOSPHATE BATTERY VS TERNARY LITHIUM BATTERY
Going for electric gokarts now a days, is something more track owners are deciding to do, thanks to their advantages compared to gas powered karts.
But when it comes to electric engines and battery units, it is very important to know the differences that are available in the market to be able to make the right choice.
At the present time, we can easily divide the electric market into 3 different products:
- Lead Acid batteries
- LiFeMnPO4 Lithium batteries
- Ternary Lithium batteries (Swap battery systems)
As we have already discussed the first two mentioned above types, in this post we will discuss and explain the differences between LiFeMnPO4 and Ternary Lithium batteries.
First of all, why do we use lithium batteries?
Lithium batteries (Li-ion, Lithium Battery): Lithium batteries are widely used because of their advantages of light weight, large capacity and no memory effect. The energy density of lithium batteries is very high, and their capacity is 1.5-2 times that of Ni-MH batteries of the same weight. Lithium also has low self-discharge rate. In addition, lithium batteries have few “memory effects” and no toxic substances, which are also important reasons for their wide application.
Ternary Lithium batteries and LiFeMnPO4 batteries are the two main types of Lithium Batteries that are used in electric gokarts.
Ternary Lithium battery Vs Lithium iron phosphate battery
I: The material used in LiFePO4 battery and a ternary Lithium battery is different.
II: A LiFePO4 battery is a 3.2V voltage platform, with a cycle life of more than 2000 charges.
III: The ternary lithium battery is a 3.7V voltage platform, and the cycle life depends on different manufacturers, different models and processes, and generally is 500-800 charges.
IV: LiFePO4 batteries offer better high temperature performance.
V: LiFePO4 batteries are safer.
LiFePO4 batteries are characterized by high safety, high rate charge-discharge characteristics and long cycle life. The battery capacity is 80% of the initial capacity after 1600 cycles, when the charging condition is 1C multiple charging to 3.65V, then the constant voltage is changed to 0.02C, and then the discharge voltage is 2.0V at 1C multiple charging to 2.0V cut-off voltage. LiFePO4 batteries also have stable charge-discharge characteristics and good fast charge characteristics. In addition to long life and excellent charge-discharge performance, the greatest advantage of LiFePO4 batteries is its safety. The chemical properties of liFePO4 batteries are stable and the high temperature stability is good. The LiFePO4 batteries begin to decompose at 700-800 C and will not release oxygen molecules in the face of impact, needling, short circuit and so on. It will not produce intense combustion and has high safety performance.
Ternary lithium batteries refer to lithium batteries containing transition metal lithium-intercalated oxides containing nickel, cobalt and manganese, which can be expressed as LiMnxNiyCo1-x-yO2 (0 < x < 0.5, 0 < y < 0.5). This material combines the advantages of lithium cobalt oxide, lithium nickel oxide and lithium manganate, and forms a ternary synergistic effect of three materials, whose comprehensive properties are superior to any single combination compound. Weight energy density can reach 200Wh/kg.
The safety of ternary lithium batteries is very poor. The thermal stability of ternary lithium batteries is poor. They will decompose at 250-300C. When it encounters flammable electrolytes and carbon materials, decomposition will start at a point. The heat generated will further intensify the decomposition of the positive pole, and it will deflagrate in a very short time. In an accident, the impact of external force can damage the battery diaphragm, which will lead to short circuit, and the heat generated during short circuit will cause the thermal temperature to rapidly rise to more than 300 C, creating the risk of spontaneous combustion.
In conclusion, most electric gokarts in the market which are sold with LITHIUM battery packs, are LiFeMnPO4 cells. Ternary lithium packages are offered in swap battery type systems. For racing purposes Ternary Lithium could be an option, but for the rental industry, where a lot of charging and discharging processed are happening frequently, it is not a good solution, as it is very risky and not as reliable as LiFeMnPO4 batteries.
If you have further questions about the difference and how it could affect you and your business, get in touch with our technical department.
