New manganese-heavy battery material could lead to dramatic increase in EV range

A UK company says their newly-developed, manganese-rich cathode material could increase battery energy density by up to 20 per cent and extend the range of electric vehicles.

UK battery start-up Integrals Power says its new cells, composed of 80 per cent manganese, a brittle metal that can vastly improve the energy density of a cathode, are the first to be made up of such a high volume of the metal.

Manganese can store more lithium ions during charge than other cathode materials, and it improves the stability of the cathode, extending its life. Manganese cathodes also generally have better thermal stability, making them safer. 

The company says tests carried out by research company QinetiQ have demonstrated that lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cells retain a significantly higher percentage of capacity under high discharge conditions than traditional lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells.

High discharge conditions occur during prolonged periods of highway driving, or in situations where significant power is needed, such as for electric mining vehicles.

QinetiQ tested the capacity of LMFP cells at different C-rates. C-rates refer to the charging and discharging time of a battery. A higher C-rate means a faster charge or discharge, and a lower C-rate means a slower charge or discharge.

QinetiQ’s testing showed that the LMFP cells retained 99 per cent of their original capacity at 2C (30 minutes of discharge time), and 95 per cent at 5C (12 minutes of discharge time).

Even at the extreme end of discharging at 10C (6 minutes discharge time), which is beyond the limits of any actual real-world use case, the cells retained 60 per cent of their capacity.

Integrals Power said that amounts to an energy density improvement of up to 20 per cent compared with LFP batteries.

In real-world terms, that means that in theory Integrals Power’s new battery should be able to deliver a greater range for electric vehicles, but at a lower cost and with less reliance on critical minerals than Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) cells, another contender for providing higher-density, long-range EV batteries.

“We’re extremely proud of the test results QinetiQ achieved using our LMFP cathode active materials because they show that we’ve delivered higher C-rate performance and higher retained capacity compromise,” said Integrals Power Founder and CEO Behnam Hormozi.

“Together with the proven energy density improvements of up to 20% compared to LFP unlocked by our 80% Manganese content and higher voltage profile of 4.1V, we are able to demonstrate to our customers around the world that we can enable significant cost and weight reductions, and more compact, more sustainable, and longer-lasting battery pack designs.”

QinetiQ conducted the tests on pouch cells made using the Integrals Power LMFP material and standard commercial-grade graphite anodes and liquid electrolyte. Each cell was tested at an electrode loading of 2mAh/cm².

Integrals Power has developed and patented 25 different cathode materials.