Lead-acid battery, lead-to-lithium battery, lithium iron phosphate battery, which one should we choose?

There are two popular types of batteries on the market: lead-acid batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries. What are the differences between them? Today we will briefly explain it.

Lithium iron phosphate battery cells can be made from 5Ah to 1000Ah (1Ah = 1000mAh), while lead-acid battery 2V cells are usually 100Ah to 150Ah, with a small variation range. The volume of a lithium iron phosphate battery with the same capacity is 2/3 of the volume of a lead-acid battery, and the weight is 1/3 of the latter. The starting current of lithium iron phosphate batteries can reach 2C, achieving high-rate charging and stronger fast charging power; while the current requirement of lead-acid batteries is generally between 0.1C and 0.2C, which cannot achieve fast charging performance.

In terms of environmental protection, lead-acid batteries contain a large amount of heavy metal - lead, which produces waste liquid, while lithium iron phosphate batteries do not contain any heavy metals and are pollution-free during production and use.

Although lead-acid batteries have cheaper materials and lower purchase costs than lithium iron phosphate batteries, they are less economical than lithium iron phosphate batteries in terms of service life and routine maintenance. Practical application results show that the cost performance of lithium iron phosphate batteries is more than 4 times that of lead-acid batteries.

The number of cycles of lithium iron phosphate batteries is more than 2,000 times, while the number of cycles of lead-acid batteries is usually only about 300 to 350 times. From a long-term perspective, lithium iron phosphate will have more advantages in use.

Some customers feel that their budget is limited but want to use higher-performance batteries, so the application of lead-to-lithium batteries has emerged. So what is the difference between it and lithium iron phosphate battery?

In terms of materials, lead-to-lithium batteries are mainly based on the design of lead-acid batteries. Performance is improved by replacing some materials (such as using lithium-ion technology), usually retaining the structural characteristics of lead-acid batteries. The cathode material of lithium iron phosphate battery is lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), which has good safety and thermal stability.

In terms of energy density. The energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries is generally higher than that of lead-based lithium batteries, so they can store more energy under the same volume or weight. The cycle life of lithium iron phosphate batteries is usually longer, which can reach more than 2,000 times, while the cycle life of lead-to-lithium batteries is relatively short. Lithium iron phosphate batteries show better safety under high temperature or short circuit conditions, and lead-to-lithium batteries may be relatively lower.

Lead-to-lithium batteries are mainly used to replace traditional lead-acid batteries, such as UPS uninterruptible power supplies, backup power systems and some electric vehicles, especially when cost reduction and lightweighting are required. And lithium iron phosphate batteries: widely evaluated for electric vehicles, solar backup systems, mobile power supplies and high-power equipment, they have improved safety, thermal stability and long cycle life, making them suitable for demanding applications.

Daya Electrical Group company currently sells lead-acid batteries, lead-modified lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries of different specifications to meet the needs of different customers in terms of price, performance and different application scenarios.