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Süd-Chemie Investing €60M in Series Production of Lithium Iron Phosphate for Batteries for Electric Vehicle Drives

Phostechp2
Phostech’s current P2 LFP material produced via the wet process. Source: Phostech. Click to enlarge.

Süd-Chemie AG, a worldwide leading specialty chemical company based in Munich, Germany, is investing approximately €60 million (US$75 million) in the production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) for use in batteries for electric vehicle drives and other applications. (Earlier post.)

On the new site of its wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, Phostech Lithium Inc. in Candiac/Quebec (fully acquired in 2008), the German group is constructing an industrial production plant for LFP using a proprietary production process based on wet chemistry. By using this process, high grade LFP can be produced in both stable and consistent quality, the company says.

Phostech is currently working with three production processes: a solid state process for energy-grade material (Life Power P1), the wet process for power-grade material (Life Power P2), and a melt process that is currently at pilot scale. The wet process combines the Fe, Li and P sources for a complete reaction in liquid phase. Particle size, morphology and purity is controlled by precipitation.

At the 27th International Battery Seminar & Exhibit earlier this year in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl, Phostech said that it was developing improved power and energy grade materials.

Commercial production for series delivery will start in 2012 to reach a rate of 2,500 tons per year. Such volume, will allow the production of approximately 50,000 all-electric automobiles or, alternatively, up to 500,000 vehicles with hybrid drives per year.

As a result of the anticipated high demand, Süd-Chemie is considerably expanding its production capacity for LFP based on its new wet chemistry production process— a technology by which Süd-Chemie can already currently manufacture up to 300 tons of LFP per year at its site in Moosburg/Germany.

Compared with other cathode materials for lithium ion batteries, the LIFE Power-brand LFP manufactured by Süd-Chemie is characterized not only by high energy density but also by a superior safety of the material, particularly long service life, favorable manufacturing cost profile and excellent cycle stability, i.e. stable and reliable charge and discharge characteristics even in long-term use, according to the company. Saft is a Phostech customer.

This investment is of central strategic importance to Süd-Chemie. Our LFP will establish itself as a storage material for large high-performance batteries, thus enabling electromobility to achieve an overall breakthrough in the automotive industry. This is particularly due to the high performance as well as the superior safety and the long-life cycle as well as the stable charging characteristics facilitated by our LFP.

—Dr. Günter von Au, chairman of the Managing Board of Süd-Chemie AG

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Comments

HealthyBreeze

So, it doesn't sound like this incorporates the MIT innovation that allows rapid recharging of LiFe cells.
If you had to choose between accelerating charging or increasing storage density...I'd probably go for storage density, too.

DaveD

Yeah, right now it's all about energy density and anything that might increase that. The Li-phosphates all have at pretty good power density anyway.

Stan Peterson

More infrastructure investment.

The people who see conspiracies everywhere don't understand economics and that it takes capacity to manufacture products that they wish were being built.

HealthyBreeze

@ Stan Peterson,

What about the people who see conspiracy theorists everywhere? What do they not understand?

sam goodman

interesting but 75MUSD investment for 2500tons per year or 50000 EV equivalent seems pretty expensive.
Considering that Sud Chemie has exclusive patent rights for LFP, i wonder how they plan to cope with the EV market growth and still make money out of it.

HarveyD

Phostech-Sud Chimie + Montreal U + Quebec Hydro have developed new battery electrodes that can withstand 20,000 to 30,000 cycles. A Taiwan firm will be mass producing EV compatible batteries using that technology by 2012. More technical details will come in the following months.

Canada Lithium and Quebec Lithium mines could produce all the lithium required by the new Phostech-Sud Chimie plant (and much more ) by 2012/2013.

It is obvious that the world will not be short of lithium nor EV batteries in the future. Competition will be very interesting as more and more battery technologies are developed.

New generation Post-Lithium batteries may be around sooner than we think. By 2020/25, current battery technologies may be obsolete. Materials and batteries plants will have to be upgraded.

SJC

It is what we do between now and 2020 that counts. If OPEC decides to withhold 20% of our oil, I would rather have 1000 methanol plants running at half capacity and an M85 put at most of the gasoline stations.

HarveyD

Yes, post 2020 oil products consumption should progressively go down with the arrival of more fuel efficient vehicles, airplanes, trucks, trains, boats, sips etc. Vehicles and and all type of machines electrification should be in full speed by then.

HarveyD

Yes, post 2020 oil products consumption should progressively go down with the arrival of more fuel efficient vehicles, airplanes, trucks, trains, boats, ships etc. Vehicles and and all type of machines electrification should be in full speed by then.

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