Electric car: fast charging will soon no longer damage your batteries thanks to this scientific discovery

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Scientists at Stanford University have devised a new battery charging technique for electric vehicles. This feeds each of the cells one by one rather than as a whole, which thus makes it possible to reduce the damage to the most fragile of them. In this way, the researchers estimate that the life of the batteries could be extended by at least 20%.

battery

Fast charging certainly has many advantages, but it also has a major drawback, now known to all: it significantly degrades the life of our batteries, which can put more people off buying a electric vehicle. Manufacturers today manage to curb this phenomenon as much as possible, but it seems impossible to eradicate it completely. Indeed, the latter is due to the very composition of our batteries.

Inside these, there are many small cells of energy. While one might think that these cells are similar in every way, this is actually not the case at all. On the contrary, some will degrade faster than others after a quick charge. The reasons are various: increased exposure to heat, difficulty in being cooled, etc. The concern is, therefore, that it is these cells that drastically reduce the life of a battery.

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Individual fast charging, the solution to extend the life of electric car batteries?

Thus, the challenge is to reduce the stress inflicted on these more fragile cells in order to reduce their rate of degradation compared to their more resistant neighbour. To find a solution, scientists at Stanford University have developed a computer simulation, resuming the physical and chemical properties of a battery almost perfectly. In this way, they were able to emulate cell degradation under different types of load.

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After testing their model on a classic type of fast charge, the researchers imagined another model, this time recharging each cell individually. The idea is as follows: identify the most fragile cells and inflict a less substantial load on them and, therefore, less stressful for them. The strongest cells, on the other hand, receive the maximum level of charge.

car battery

The results of the study are without appeal. By charging the cells individually, the scientists found that it was possible to significantly reduce the heat generated by the process. According to their calculations, this technique thus makes it possible to extend the life of the battery by at least 20% compared to the models currently on the market.

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Of course, not everything is rosy, and this method also has its drawbacks. Indeed, the purpose of fast charging is to… quickly charge your device, a particularly important parameter for all motorists driving an electric car. However, by applying less pressure on the most fragile cells, this method necessarily increases the charging time, which may not be suitable for all users. So it all depends on your preference between speed and longevity.

Still, according to the authors of the study, their model can easily be implemented on current electric vehicles and serve as a model for future generations of batteries. Furthermore, they also believe that this model can be applied to the discharging process, further increasing battery life. Therefore, one can imagine batteries that would favor this technique to suit all users.

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“Lithium-ion batteries have already changed the world in many ways”writes Simona Onori, a researcher at Stanford University and author of the study. “It is important that we get the most out of this transformative technology and its future successors. »

Source : Stanford University