Advantages and disadvantages of lithium batteries

1. Advantages of lithium batteries
High Energy Density and Light Weight Lithium batteries have a much higher energy density than nickel-cadmium and nickel-hydrogen batteries. With the same capacity, their volume can be reduced by 30% and weight by 50%, making them particularly suitable for portable electronic devices and electric vehicles. For example, the capacity of an 18650 lithium battery can reach 3600mAh, while that of an ordinary battery is only about 800mAh.
Long cycle life: The cycle life of lithium-ion batteries is typically 500-2000 cycles (such as 800-1500 cycles for ternary lithium-ion batteries and 2000-2500 cycles for lithium iron phosphate batteries), which is far superior to that of lead-acid batteries (about 300 cycles)26. Some lithium iron phosphate batteries can even achieve 3000 cycles under laboratory conditions6.
Fast charging and low self-discharge rate: It supports 1C rate charging (80% charged in 1 hour) and has a low self-discharge rate (over 85% of the remaining battery capacity after being stored at room temperature for 1 month), making it suitable for emergency use. The high-voltage platform (such as 800V) technology further shortens the charging time to 10 minutes, with a range of 400 kilometers.
Safety and Environmental Friendliness Compared to early metal lithium batteries, lithium-ion batteries have significantly improved safety through protective circuits (overcharge, overdischarge, and short circuit protection) and do not contain toxic substances such as cadmium and lead13. Lithium iron phosphate batteries have superior thermal stability and higher safety67.
Memory-free effect and wide temperature adaptability: It can be charged and discharged at any time without needing to be fully discharged; it has a wide operating temperature range (-20℃~60℃), and some improved models can reach -40℃~70℃13.
II. Disadvantages of lithium batteries
Cost and manufacturing complexity: The production cost is relatively high, and protective circuit boards (such as control ICs and MOSFETs) are required to prevent overcharge/overdischarge, increasing the overall cost by 35%.
Safety risks: High temperatures or physical damage may lead to thermal runaway. Ternary lithium batteries are prone to releasing oxygen and igniting at high temperatures, necessitating reliance on cooling systems or hard shell protection.
Poor low-temperature performance: At low temperatures (such as below -20℃), the capacity significantly decreases, the internal resistance increases, and the discharge efficiency is affected.
Limitations of cycle life: The lifespan of a battery pack (about 500 cycles) is typically shorter than that of a single battery cell (2000 cycles), and fast charging can accelerate capacity degradation.
Environmental and recycling issues: Chemical substances such as lithium hexafluorophosphate in waste batteries may pollute the environment, and it is necessary to reduce their impact through cascade utilization or dismantling and recycling (such as extracting metals like lithium and cobalt)