Batteries are increasingly at the core of our lives. Almost everything we use has a battery. And while the modern lithium-ion cell was largely developed for consumer electronics, its potential to transform e-mobility has led to something of a second coming.
Yet while much is made of supply chain issues, cost and recycling infrastructure, there is a more fundamental issue: how our understanding of batteries is not evolving quickly enough.
With electric vehicle popularity growing rapidly – the IEA predicts that one in five cars sold globally will be EVs in 2023 – electrification has transitioned to the mainstream. But, as we go through this second coming, there is a huge opportunity to make batteries work better for everyone – and it’s all about improving our understanding of batteries through software. Software that can optimise hardware.
In the last five years, mainstream manufacturers have launched a raft of EVs. Aware of the increasingly competitive landscape, and waning year-on-year battery cost reductions, they have been in a race to offer new, improved electric vehicles at higher volumes and lower cost while still maintaining quality.
Since this investment drive, at least seven car makers have recalled EVs for battery issues, with some spending billions of dollars. But although high profile safety recalls like these send shockwaves through the industry, the range of battery related risks is much broader. Lifetime is a constant anxiety, particularly given its sensitivity on cell production parameters which are difficult to track. Reliability is another. Much of this is down to a lack of understanding.
And, as a result, some of the risks around lifetime and quality have resulted in overly conservative battery management strategies and avoidable limitations in range, charging rates and performance, compensated for through battery pack ‘oversizing’. In other words, simply making a battery larger than it needs to be, which costs more and weighs more.
If we combine a better on-vehicle BMS with connectivity, we then have an EV that can be optimised through its lifetime
Meanwhile, paradoxically, billions of dollars are being invested into new cell chemistries and more efficient packaging densities with direct compromises to materials cost, manufacturability, serviceability, and ultimately, sustainability.
While these developments are certainly important, engineering leadership teams need to understand batteries better and look to software, which can unlock a whole host of benefits, cost-effectively and quickly.
Ultimately, the optimisation of an EV battery relies on addressing three simple metrics – Lifetime, Safety and Performance. Lifetime ensures affordability and sustainability, and Safety is critical for maintaining consumer confidence. Performance is what remains; it’s the degree to which a battery maker can ‘open the taps’, once the other two have been achieved.
Generally, failure to understand these metrics results in car makers defaulting to overly conservative Battery Management Systems (BMS) control, leaving performance on the table, or worse, recklessly prioritising headline figures over reliability.
Li-ion batteries have come a long way over the last two decades; now it’s time for BMS to do the same. Not only does this mean improving the BMS as we know it today, but also exploiting the wealth of battery data through the cloud.
Even in today’s electric vehicles, we haven’t fully harnessed the maximum potential of the computational power available and for too long, industry has defaulted to viewing the BMS as a cost-down opportunity, rather than an opportunity to unlock performance and create better products. But it is possible to unlock untapped performance, safely, without fundamentally altering assumptions on hardware costs.
The last five years have also seen a step-change in data streaming from battery powered devices. The arrival of low-cost telematics has afforded manufacturers and fleet owners the ability to understand more about their vehicles than ever before.
If we combine a better on-vehicle BMS with connectivity, we then have an EV that can be optimised through its lifetime, rather than one which remains fixed with the same parameters as when it leaves the factory. That is game-changing.
All of this comes under the umbrella of the new world of battery intelligence.
Understanding batteries also isn’t just about developing the most accurate electrochemical models. Neither is it a problem that’s solved by throwing lots of data at ‘AI’ black boxes. Battery intelligence is a new discipline that connects battery data seamlessly with electrochemists, battery systems engineers, and data scientists with the sole goal of delivering actionable insights to enhance and protect value across a battery’s lifetime.
Unleashing a battery through software and connectivity requires a holistic approach that appreciates the intricate links between lifetime, safety, and performance. It requires practical experience in battery systems that can only be learnt the hard way: by establishing a culture of chasing advantage at every stage encompassing design, manufacturing, and deployment.
The electric mobility market is growing quickly, and battery intelligence is the key to the most fundamental part of an EV, optimising safety, maximising lifetime and improving range and charging times. It can fully realise the potential of the e-mobility transition.
Tim Engstrom, Technical Lead, Elysia
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