Rapid restoration of electric vehicle battery performance while driving at cold temperatures

Guangsheng Zhang, Shanhai Ge, Xiao Guang Yang, Yongjun Leng, Dan Marple, Chao Yang Wang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) driven in cold weather experience two major drawbacks of Li-ion batteries: drastic power loss (up to 10-fold at −30 °C) and restriction of regenerative braking at temperatures below 5–10 °C. Both factors greatly reduce cruise range, exacerbating drivers' range anxiety in winter. While preheating the battery before driving is a practice widely adopted to maintain battery power and EV drivability, it is time-consuming (on the order of 40 min) and prohibits instantaneous mobility. Here we reveal a control strategy that can rapidly restore EV battery power and permit full regeneration while driving at temperatures as low as −40 °C. The strategy involves heating the battery internally during regenerative braking and rest periods of driving. We show that this technique fully restores room-temperature battery power and regeneration in 13, 33, 46, 56 and 112 s into uninterrupted driving in 0, −10, −20, −30 and −40 °C environments, respectively. Correspondingly, the strategy significantly increases cruise range of a vehicle operated at cold temperatures, e.g. 49% at −40 °C in simulated US06 driving cycle tests. The present work suggests that smart batteries with embedded sensing/actuation can leapfrog in performance.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)35-40
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Power Sources
Volume371
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Dec 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Battery self-heating
  • Cold temperatures
  • Control strategy
  • EV cruise range
  • Power restoration

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Zhang, G., Ge, S., Yang, X. G., Leng, Y., Marple, D., & Wang, C. Y. (2017). Rapid restoration of electric vehicle battery performance while driving at cold temperatures. Journal of Power Sources, 371, 35-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.10.029