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Discovering the secrets of electric car batteries
News
Discovering the secrets of electric car batteries
As electric cars (EVs) are becoming gradually more widespread on the market for personal transportation, their Achilles heel remain the batteries. The more often a battery is charged and the higher the charging power, the faster they degrade. Why and how exactly that happens is currently being investigated by Associate Professor Daniel-Ioan Stroe. By exposing various types of batteries to wear and tear and then taking them apart bit by bit, he hopes that he will be able to solve the enigma of the long-life battery.
The purpose of his research project Understanding battery degradation through aging tests and post-mortem analysis for the next generation of battery materials is to pinpoint which battery components are most vulnerable to degradation, and how the lifespan of the batteries can be prolonged.
Long time in the lab
Completing Daniel-Ioan Stroes tests takes a lot of time. To gain exact knowledge of battery behaviour, the batteries must be worn down in an extremely controlled environment in the lab, simulating accelerations, fast charging, shifts in temperature and many other things that EV batteries are exposed to on a day-to-day basis.
- We perform what we call a ‘post-mortem analyses’ on the batteries when they have been worn. We open them up and look at what is going on inside them – which components have degraded and which of them are limiting the batteries’ capacity and lifespan, he says
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Normally, you would just measure the capacity and the amount of power that is left in the battery, but you don’t know exactly what happens with the performance of various components. There are so many outside factors affecting the batteries in various ways. We are trying to map the relationship between these factors and the degradation of the battery components.”
Better batteries in the future
The purpose of Daniel-Ioan Stroe and his colleagues’ research is to find methods to enhance EV battery lifespan and performance. Either by identifying other materials for battery manufacturing or by improving on the materials that are being used today.
- In the end, the goal is to find materials that last longer or can be packed in a way where they take up less space and weighs less, increasing capacity and energy density, says Daniel-Ioan Stroe.
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There is a very large potential. In theory we should be able to develop batteries with the same energy density as gasoline.
Better EV batteries will not only benefit future EV drivers. Mining raw materials like cobalt and lithium is polluting and energy heavy. At the same time, much of the mining is done in third World countries where the use of child labour or other socially unsustainable methods is a potential risk.
