LFP or NMC battery: which to choose used?

What the chemistry changes for a used-car buyer

Three things, and only the third can be put in numbers.

How you charge. An LFP battery can be charged to 100% every day without harm, and the manufacturers that use it even recommend it, so the computer can recalibrate its gauge. An NMC or NCA battery prefers to live between 20 and 80%; charged to 100% every night for years, it ages faster. On a used car, the chemistry therefore also tells you what the previous owner may have put it through.

Cold. Every battery loses range in winter, but LFP loses more: its internal resistance rises faster as the temperature drops, and rapid charging slows down until the pack has warmed up. On a small LFP battery, a winter in town can take a third off the displayed range.

Ageing. LFP withstands more cycles and loses less capacity per calendar year. According to the sohpass model, calibrated on the used market, a battery 8 years old with 62,137 miles sits around 82% for an NMC, 86% for an LFP, and only 72% for the LMO of the early Nissan Leaf. These are the centres of a range, not measurements: only a measurement tells you where the car in front of you stands.

The chemistries you will come across

LFP, lithium iron phosphate. No nickel or cobalt, cheaper to make, less dense: for the same capacity, the pack is heavier. It reached Europe with BYD, the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range in late 2021, then MG, Citroën, Fiat and the entry-level versions from Volkswagen, Škoda and Renault. Its very flat voltage means the range indicator is less accurate, hence the periodic charge to 100%.

NMC, nickel manganese cobalt. The chemistry of most electric cars sold in Europe since 2017: Renault, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Mercedes. Dense, good in the cold, steady ageing.

NCA, nickel cobalt aluminium. Close to NMC, used by Tesla on the Model 3 and Model Y Long Range and Performance. Same rule: 80% day to day.

LMO and LMP. The manganese of the air-cooled Nissan Leaf 24 kWh, and the lithium metal polymer of the early Bluecar. These packs age markedly faster: a first-generation Leaf commonly drops below 75% at eight years. Look closely, or walk away.

How to know what the car in front of you has

Each sohpass page gives the chemistry by version and by year range, where it could be established from the manufacturer or two concurring sources. When a model changed chemistry during its life, the page says so, and the version decides, not the model year.

On the car itself: the version’s trade name in the advert and documents (“Standard Range”, “Propulsion”, “Five”), the manufacturer’s handbook or app, and, on a Tesla, the software menu that offers 100% as the daily charge limit, the sign of an LFP.

From 2027, the battery passport will make the chemistry readable by anyone on new batteries; it will not cover today’s used fleet. Battery passport 2027.