The IP situation is key to understanding LFP. China had basically all control over the LFP supply for the past decade because they had control over key patents to safeguard that supply. Those patents expired near the end of 2022, so now other companies have more freedom to ramp up production. It will take time though to get to a point where a country other than China has significantly built up their LFP supply chain though, it is still quite early.
No, China actually do not own these patents, but the LFP patent was declared invalid in China a long time ago. The reason it was declared invalid is because the patent owners did not file the patent until much later in China (China is still a economic backwater around 2000) , and they packaged several patents into one very broad and expansive patent, which others challenged. As a result, companies can manufacture and sell LFP batteries in China without paying royalties to Quebec hydro, the patent owner, but they have to pay royalties to Quebec hydro if they sell it outside China, where the patents are valid.
But back to the question of why European OEMs do not offer LFP batteries yet, it’s because they act slow, a lot of them have actually announced plans to use LFP batteries.
The IP situation is key to understanding LFP. China had basically all control over the LFP supply for the past decade because they had control over key patents to safeguard that supply. Those patents expired near the end of 2022, so now other companies have more freedom to ramp up production. It will take time though to get to a point where a country other than China has significantly built up their LFP supply chain though, it is still quite early.
No, China actually do not own these patents, but the LFP patent was declared invalid in China a long time ago. The reason it was declared invalid is because the patent owners did not file the patent until much later in China (China is still a economic backwater around 2000) , and they packaged several patents into one very broad and expansive patent, which others challenged. As a result, companies can manufacture and sell LFP batteries in China without paying royalties to Quebec hydro, the patent owner, but they have to pay royalties to Quebec hydro if they sell it outside China, where the patents are valid.
But back to the question of why European OEMs do not offer LFP batteries yet, it’s because they act slow, a lot of them have actually announced plans to use LFP batteries.