Electric cars to charge in just 10 minutes using this new battery tech

Researchers have developed a new self-heating battery, which is likely to fully charge electric car vehicles in just 10 minutes. The health of Lithium-ion batteries deteriorates when rapidly charged at ambient temperatures, under 10 degrees Celsius. Researchers explain the reason: Rather than the lithium ions smoothly inserted into the carbon anodes, the lithium deposits in spikes on the anode surface. 

Need for self-heating battery

According to the research published in the journal Joule, this lithium plating reduces cell capacity, but also can cause electrical spikes and unsafe battery conditions. Researchers noted that batteries heated above the lithium plating threshold, whether by external or internal heating, will not exhibit lithium plating. Previously, the team had developed their battery to charge at 10 degrees Celsius in 15 minutes. Researchers note that charging at higher temperatures would be more efficient, but long periods of high heat also degrade the batteries.

"We demonstrated that we can charge an electric vehicle in ten minutes for a 200 to 300-mile range," said Chao-Yang Wang, a professor at Pennsylvania State University in the US. "And we can do this maintaining 2,500 charging cycles or the equivalent of half a million miles of travel."

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The solution

Researchers realised that if the batteries could heat up to 60 degrees Celsius for only 10 minutes and then rapidly cool to ambient temperatures, lithium spikes would not form and heat degradation of the battery would also not occur. The rapid cooling of the battery would be accomplished using the cooling system designed into the car, Wang explained. The team noted that a large difference from 60 degrees to about 24 degrees Celsius will also help increase the speed of cooling.

The new self-heating battery uses a thin nickel foil with one end attached to the negative terminal and the other extending outside the cell to create a third terminal. A temperature sensor attached to a switch causes electrons to flow through the nickel foil to complete the circuit, according to the researchers. Researchers said this battery technology rapidly heats up the nickel foil through resistance heating and warms the inside of the battery.

"The 10-minute trend is for the future and is essential for the adoption of electric vehicles because it solves the range anxiety problem," Wang added.

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(With agency inputs)