The olivine structure lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO 4 ) is considered as one of the promising lithium ion batteries cathode materials for its high theoretical specific capacity, excellent reversibility, thermal stability, environmental friendliness, and low cost. However, the application of LiFePO 4 in vehicle power battery was hindered by its poor electronic and ionic conductivity. To solve these problems, various strategies, including surface coating, element doping, and particle size reduction were proposed. In this review, we summed up some recent researches on surface modification of LiFePO 4 and explained the mechanisms of modification. Moreover, the defects and advantages of these modification methods were discussed. Finally, an outlook for the surface modifications of LiFePO 4 cathode materials was given. Since the SONY corporation developed the first generation of commercial lithium-ion batteries in the 1990s, lithium-ion battery has been widely applied in various electronic equipment, such as a carrier of energy storage and conversion.1 In particular, the great development has been made for applications of lithium ion battery in vehicle power.2-6 As the most expensive component of lithium ion battery, cathode materials achieve much attention also for its strong effects on battery capacity, cycle life, and security. Compared with conventional cathode materials, such as LiCoO 2 , LiNiO 2 , and LiMn 2 O 4 , LiFePO 4 is a promising cathode material for rechargeable batteries used for hybrid electric vehicles and bare electric vehicles for its high theoretical capacity (170 mAhg −1 at room temperature), long cycle ability, excellent thermal stability, environmental friendliness, and low cost. [7][8][9]