The Chinese power battery maker and Volkswagen's partner Gotion High-Tech has already achieved the industrialization for its 210Wh/g lithium iron phosphate LFP) battery and will put the 230Wh/g LFP battery into mass production at the end of the year, Li Zhen, Chairman and CEO of the company, said on last Saturday at the China EV100 Forum 2022.

Li Zhen delivering speech at Chine EV100 Forum; photo credit: Gotion High-Tech

“At that moment, ternary-lithium batteries will be replaced by LFP ones on a larger scale in Gotion,” Li Zhen added.

To reduce the reliance on such raw materials as nickel and cobalt, Gotion High-Tech is also working on the innovation in ternary-lithium battery technologies. For instance, it is vigorously pushing ahead with the industrialization of the 360Wh/g ternary-lithium semi-solid-state battery.

China's demands for lithium carbonate are projected to be 600,000 tonnes per year by 2025, he said. The demands for imported lithium resources will be significantly decreased during 2021-2025, thanks to the fast development of Yichun's lepidolite projects, the enhancement of Qinghai’s lithium-from-brine extraction technologies, the exploitation of Sichuan's spodumene resource, as well as the advancement of battery recycling technology. 

Li Zhen said Yichun, a city of Jiangxi province where CATL made an investment in lithium resources, will serve as the “lithium capital of the world” and will help China get rid of lithium shortage by forming an annual lithium production capacity of 500,000 tonnes by 2025.