Expanding on its line of Nanophosphate power cells, Reliance Lithium Werks Technology, B.V. used The Battery Show as the opportunity to show off its new line of lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) energy cells.

The Dutch company touts its ability to provide customers with cells that let them avoid the ethical and practical problems of using batteries that contain nickel and cobalt. With the introduction of the company’s LFP line of cells, now Lithium Werks can supply cells for applications such as hybrid-electric vehicles that require power cells and for battery-electric vehicles, which need energy cells.

Lithium Werks’s new AER18650 cell is rated at 1.8Ah with long life and cycling at better than 2,000 cycles at 100 percent depth-of-discharge. It is manufactured in compliance with automotive quality processes certified for IATF 16949 and it complies with UL 1642 with IEC 62133 pending.

“Our 18650 and 26650 power-optimized Nanophosphate cells are the most popular cylindrical LFP power cells in the industry,” said just-retired CEO Joe Fisher, who told Design News that he was starting his retirement immediately following the show and would be spending more quality time with his golf clubs.

“Our customers have asked us for high-energy versions of these cells from the same plant and processes that they have already qualified”. He added, “The AER18650 will soon be followed by a larger-sized cell with a 15Ah capacity based on the same chemistry.”

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The LFP Cell’s Benefits:

• LFP energy cells can achieve a full charge of 100 percent without experiencing accelerated battery degradation.

• The phosphorus-oxygen bond in LFP cathode greatly reduces the release of oxygen, which reduces the opportunity to propagate into a thermal runaway, making LFP the safest chemistry in the lithium-ion industry.

• LFP cathode is made from earth-abundant and inexpensive Iron-based raw materials making this technology more environmentally friendly and much less subject to market fluctuations. LFP does not contain any cobalt or nickel.

• LFP energy cells deliver both higher gravimetric and volumetric energy densities, with long cycle life and excellent safety characteristics. 

The company also found strong interest at the show in its lithium-manganese -iron phosphate (LMFP) batteries because of their more than 20 percent higher energy density compared to conventional LFP, according to Fisher. “In short, it is lithium-iron phosphate on steroids,” he said on the show floor. “For roughly 3 percent additional cost you can get over 20 percent higher energy density.”

Related:Weighing the Pros and Cons of Nickel-Zinc Batteries

Fisher co-founded Lithium Werks in 2017 and it was acquired by Reliance New Energy Ltd. in 2022. The company holds the industrial division of the famously failed battery pioneer A123 and has more than 219 patents.