Physical properties of LiPF6 in ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) electrolytes were studied by conductivity measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Conductivity measurements show that the addition of additive levels of FEC to EMC electrolyte can dramatically increase the conductivity of EC-free EMC electrolytes at low salt concentrations below 0.4 M. FT-IR results show that the added FEC hinders ion pair formation by competing with EMC to dissociate LiPF6 resulting in increased conductivity in EMC electrolytes. Conductivity measurements show that the conductivity of DMC electrolytes decreases significantly below 0 degrees C due to the high melting point of DMC. Differential thermal analysis was used to determine the LiPF6-DMC phase diagram which then can be used to explain the conductivity results. The results presented here identify avenues by which EC-free electrolytes can be improved for use in practical Li-ion cells. (C) The Author(s) 2018. Published by ECS.