A report released by the Bank of America not long ago showed that according to the bank’s EV battery supply and demand model, global EV battery supply may be completely exhausted between 2025 and 2026, and the capacity utilization rate of each supplier will basically be more than 85% at that time. Bank of America predicts that by 2030, the global production capacity of electric vehicle batteries must be increased to about 121% to meet demand.

　　From the perspective of product structure, the current power batteries are mainly ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate. But it is worth noting that in recent years, due to factors such as energy density, ternary lithium batteries have a relatively high market share. However, entering 2021, many car companies have launched lithium iron phosphate models. According to the latest data released by China, the domestic power battery installed capacity in July was 11.3GWh, of which the total installed ternary lithium battery was 5.5GWh, up 67.5% year-on-year and down 8.2% month-on-month; the total installed capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries was 5.8GWh, year-on-year An increase of 235.5%, an increase of 13.4% month-on-month. This is the first time that lithium iron phosphate batteries have been installed more than ternary lithium batteries in recent years.

　　"Currently, the battery gap is 30%~50%, and each company’s situation is different. Some companies have a larger gap, and some companies have a smaller gap. This is related to the product structure. The supply of lithium iron phosphate cathode materials is particularly tight. , The reason is that in the past few years, the lithium iron phosphate cathode material factory has closed down, the market demand is very bleak, there is no large-scale raw material factory construction." The chairman of a company said on a forum.

　　In the past, lithium iron phosphate was affected by factors such as low energy density and inability to fast charge, resulting in a small range of use and was only used in the field of A00-class electric vehicles and commercial vehicles. At present, the reason for the rapid growth of the lithium iron phosphate market is the advancement of technology. At present, there are three main ways: one is to broaden the range of mileage through long and very thin size, such as BYD's blade battery, the volume energy density is increased by about 20%; the other is to optimize and improve through various materials The low temperature performance is improved; third, the energy density of the battery cell can be improved by optimizing the supply chain.

　　Now, the application range of lithium iron phosphate has been expanded, and A-level, B-level, and C-level electric vehicles can all be used. In order to solve the shortage of battery resources, many battery companies have begun to focus on the research and development of different types of battery technologies. For example, CATL has launched sodium-ion batteries. The production capacity will reach 80GWh.

　　The supply of power batteries is tight, and the prices of battery raw materials are also rising. Data shows that, as the most important solute in lithium battery electrolyte, since June 2020, the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate has risen strongly, from a minimum of less than US$10,000/ton to nearly US$50,000/ton. The price increase of raw materials should last for about a year, especially for chemical raw materials. The release of real new capacity may be next year.

　　"The biggest challenge we are facing now is not to increase prices, but to supply shortages and not being able to buy goods. This is even more terrifying." said the person in charge of a factory.

　　Lithium-ion battery (LIB) has become the main energy storage solution in modern social life. Among them, lithium iron phosphate batteries are a perfect replacement for lead-acid batteries, and they are the first choice for grid-connected peak shaving, off-grid energy storage, photovoltaic energy storage, UPS, data center and other industries.