Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Lithium-ion Battery Industry Specification Conditions (2021 Edition)" (draft for comments) (hereinafter referred to as "Regulation Conditions (2021)") and "Lithium-ion Battery Industry Specification Announcement Management Measures (2021 Edition)" ( Draft for comments). 
Among them, the "Specification Conditions (2021)" mentioned that for the newly constructed power battery project, the energy density of the energy-type power battery project should be ≥180Wh/kg, and the energy density of the battery pack should be ≥120Wh/kg. In addition, the "Specification Conditions (2021)" also set requirements for the product performance of expansion projects such as cathode materials, anode materials, electrolytes, and separators. At present, the energy density of mainstream ternary battery cells produced in the industry is generally above 210Wh/kg, while the energy density of mainstream LFP battery cells is generally below 180Wh/kg. This means that once the technical indicators are implemented, they will have a certain impact on the industrialization of LFP batteries. 
In this regard, many power battery company executives believe that this technical indicator seems to have touched the "ceiling" of the energy density of LFP batteries, but it can be achieved for power battery companies with strong competitiveness. For example, Honeycomb Energy's second-generation L600 short-blade LFP battery has been developed, the cell capacity has been increased to 196Ah, the energy density has exceeded 185Wh/kg, and the volume energy density has exceeded 430Wh/L. Mass production is expected to be achieved in Q3 of 2022. Guoxuan Hi-Tech`s current mature mass-produced LFP battery energy density has reached 190Wh/kg, the test battery has reached 210Wh/kg, and it is planned to reach 260Wh/kg in 2025. Yiwei Lithium Energy stated that the main products of the company's power-type LFP battery can achieve energy density ≥180Wh/kg, and the main products used for electricity and household Energy Storage can meet the requirements. Ruipu Energy's single-cell LFP cells with a specific energy of 180Wh/kg have been mass-produced and delivered in 2020, and plans to launch LFP cells with a specific energy of 190Wh/kg in 2021. As a leading enterprise in the power battery market, CATL's LFP power battery has been installed on a large scale worldwide, and its single energy density exceeds 180Wh/kg without difficulty. Industry insiders believe that, from a technical point of view, the energy density of LFP cells can be achieved beyond 180Wh/kg, but from the point of view of industrialization, it still has certain technical difficulties for power battery companies.
It is reported that the energy density of most LFP batteries currently on the market can be close to 180Wh/kg, but no battery company has 100% of the energy density of LFP cells exceeding 180Wh/kg. On the one hand, for LFP batteries to break through the energy density "ceiling", battery companies need to have core technologies in material system development, battery cell structure design, battery manufacturing technology, etc., and there is a high technical threshold. On the other hand, the role of subsidies continues to weaken and the market orientation is obvious. The demand for power battery products from downstream OEMs has shifted from the previous high energy density to high safety and low cost. Under this circumstance, power battery companies will develop their LFP cell products based on the needs of downstream customers, placing their competitive advantage on improving battery safety, cycle life, and cost performance. Energy density will no longer be the main focus of cell development for battery companies. Target. 
However, the industry believes that the policy that the energy density of power battery cells should be ≥180Wh/kg will also have a positive effect on the development of LFP batteries. The signal released by this move is that policies are guiding companies to build high-quality production capacity and avoid low-level redundant construction caused by low thresholds. For power battery companies, there are mainly the following paths to achieve the energy density of LFP batteries exceeding 180Wh/kg: One is to optimize the material system, such as upgrading the cathode material from lithium iron phosphate to lithium iron manganese phosphate, adopting silicon-doped lithium supplement technology, introducing new electrolytes and ultra-thin copper foil, etc., to increase the energy density of the cell. The second is to optimize the cell structure design, increase the size of the cell to increase the battery capacity, increase the capacity of a single cell to at least 180Ah, and use lightweight technology to reduce the weight of the cell. 
At present, generous shapes, large cylinders and large soft packs have become the main direction of battery enterprise power battery product development. In fact, in terms of energy density improvement, high-nickel batteries are still the main technical direction. Companies including Ningde Times, Hefei Guoxuan, and Yiwei Lithium Energy have developed 300Wh/kg high-nickel battery products, and even achieved 200Wh. /kg battery system is installed and entered into the "recommended catalog". This means that its 300Wh/kg high nickel ternary battery will be mass-produced soon. On the whole, it is difficult for battery companies to achieve the energy density of LFP batteries exceeding 180Wh/kg. If this technical index is officially used as the entry threshold for new power battery projects in the future, it may invest in later expansion of LFP power battery projects. Production has a certain impact. However, the "Regulations (2021)" is a guiding document that encourages and guides the technological progress and standard development of the industry. It does not have the pre- and mandatory administrative approval, which also gives battery companies the ability to develop battery technology and capacity expansion in the later stage. Reserve space for development.
