Tesla Goes All-In With LFP Battery Technology to Replace Unsustainable Nickel Batteries

Nickel has, for quite some time, been perceived to play a consequential role in developing green technology, which is environmentally-friendly tech especially vital for companies in various industries trying to go net zero.

This includes the EV industry, in which automakers and manufacturing companies have tried to reduce dependency on fossil fuel, running their eco-friendly vehicles on lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries with nickel as their key ingredient. Unfortunately, the abundant mining and use of nickel have brought forward numerous negative impacts, including toxicology, on human health and the environment.

The drawbacks that may someday outweigh the benefits of Li-Ion use have urged several EV companies, including Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc., to divert from lithium-ion batteries to lithium iron phosphate, otherwise known as LiFePO4 or LFP, batteries instead.

Not Bringing Nickel Back

In addition to nickel, cobalt is among the few key ingredients to keep Li-ion batteries running, the two facing great demand as automakers worldwide continuously attempt to adopt green technology through the development and use of Li-ion batteries. While Nickel remains one of the most common elements found on Earth, the fifth to be exact, the process of mining and producing nickel is far from ideal.

While it is true that, compared to fossil fuels, nickel would significantly reduce greenhouse gases during use, its production is still energy-intensive, specifically in the process of extracting and refining the metal. The mining of nickel also brings harmful effects on the environment, including habitat destruction, municipal and industrial waste, as well as pollution and contamination of air, water, and soil.

According to a paper published in MDPI’s International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, contact and overexposure to nickel may also lead to a variety of negative medical side effects such as allergies, cardiovascular and kidney diseases, lung fibrosis, as well as lung and nasal cancer. Similar harmful side effects have also been observed in workers exposed to cobalt and cobalt-containing products, the severity depending on how long and how much one has been exposed.

The toll nickel mining takes on human health and the environment, combined with its demand projected to grow up to 40-fold by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency, is most likely what drove Musk to make his motion towards lithium iron phosphate batteries.

The Switch to LFP

In contrast to the traditional Li-Ion, LFP batteries use lithium iron phosphate as the cathode material, replacing cobalt and nickel with non-toxic phosphate. It is said that LFP batteries are less costly and have a much lesser negative impact on the environment.

In addition to this, LFP batteries are known to have a more defined performance coupled with a longer lifecycle compared to other Li-Ion batteries, as LiFePO4 cells lose their capacity at a slower rate and have a lower operating voltage, allowing more consistent and faster power. Considerations of switching to LFP can also be impacted by the fact that LFP batteries are observed to be safer and more thermally and chemically stable, reducing the chances of explosions from misuse or structural damage.

Tesla announced its very first purchase of LiFePO4 cells from China’s top battery manufacturer, Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), back in 2020. The company’s 2021 third-quarter reports then revealed that the company will start using LFP batteries for its standard range models in both Model 3 and Model Y. However, at the time, Tesla still maintained the use of cobalt batteries for its long-range vehicles. The change was first applied to Tesla vehicles in China, which then reached the US in 2022 and has since been made applicable worldwide.

Tesla has recently reported plans to expand its battery facility, soon to be found in Sparks, Nevada, so cheaper LFP batteries can be made directly in the United States for the EV industry to thrive sustainably as well. The decision was also made as US regulations have started moving towards the direction of limiting the country’s dependency on foreign countries such as China for battery source materials.

Tesla’s change in production strategy was followed by Ford, who made plans to switch to LFP in 2023 and 2024, as well as Rivian, GM, and BMW, with BMW announcing that it will switch to LFP batteries by 2025.

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