American experts have developed a new electric car battery that charges in just 10 minutes and lasts 250 miles on a single charge.
EV batteries are made of lithium iron phosphate, which is known for its ‘unsurpassed safety’, and can heat and cool quickly – which is critical for fast charging and long life.
They heat up quickly to 140 ° F for charging and discharging and then cool when the battery is not being used.
The system could deal with ‘range anxiety’ – drivers’ fear of not having enough charge in their electric vehicle (EV) to get them to their destination.
The researchers say their battery is expected to last more than 2 million miles in a lifetime and would be ‘a well-rounded power train for large electric vehicles’ if marketed.
A thermally-modulated battery for mass-market electric vehicles with no anxiety of reach and with unsurpassed safety, low cost and without cobalt, is being developed by a team of engineers from Penn State.
“There is no more anxiety of range and this battery is accessible,” said Chao-Yang Wang of Penn State University in the USA.
“The very fast charge allows us to reduce the size of the battery without incurring range anxiety.”
According to Wang, these batteries can produce a large amount of heat energy – 40 kilowatt-hours and 300 kilowatts of power.
An EV with this battery can go from zero to 60 miles an hour in three seconds and drive like a Porsche, he said.
“We developed a very smart battery for mass-market electric vehicles at cost parity with vehicles with a combustion engine,” said Wang.
“This is how we are going to change the environment and not just contribute to luxury cars. Let everyone buy electric vehicles. ‘
Batteries have three main components – the anode, the cathode and the electrolyte.
The electrolyte is usually a chemical that separates the anode and cathode and moves the flow of electrical charge between the two.
The battery uses a self-heating approach previously developed at Wang’s center. Pictured: EV car battery (stock image)
Since lithium is a highly reactive element, it stores a lot of energy.
Lithium-ion batteries use a liquid electrolyte – a flammable carbon-based liquid.
But this liquid electrolyte is often flammable and has been accused of lithium-ion batteries bursting into flame when overheated, for example.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, a type of lithium ion battery, are an alternative.
They use lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as the cathode material, are already used in EVs and are known for safety.
This new battery is also lithium iron phosphate, but is described as a ‘thermally modulated LFP’.
He uses a self-heating approach previously developed in Wang’s laboratory, the Electrochemical Engine Center in Penn State.
The self-heating battery uses a thin sheet of nickel with one end connected to the negative terminal and the other extending out of the cell to create a third terminal.
As soon as the electrons flow, they quickly heat the nickel sheet through resistance heating and heat the inside of the battery.
When the internal temperature of the battery is 140 ° F, the switch opens and the battery is ready for quick charge or discharge.
The key to long life and fast recharging is the battery’s ability to quickly heat up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, for charging and discharging, and then cooling when the battery isn’t working
Wang’s team also used low-cost materials for the battery’s cathode and anode and a safe low-voltage electrolyte.
The cathode is thermally stable iron-lithium phosphate, which does not contain any of the expensive and critical materials like cobalt.
While the anode is made of graphite of very large particles, a safe, lightweight and inexpensive material.
Because of self-heating, the researchers said they did not have to worry about irregular lithium deposition at the anode, which could cause dangerous lithium spikes.
“This battery has reduced weight, volume and cost,” said Wang, who wrote an article on the findings published in Nature Energy.
‘I am very happy that we have finally found a battery that will benefit the mass consumer market.’
Reach anxiety is considered a major barrier to the large-scale adoption of fully electric vehicles – something the UK government wants to see in the next 10 years.
It is banning the sale of gasoline and diesel cars from 2030, in an attempt to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and reach the government’s net zero emissions target by 2050.
Britain’s first electric car yard opened near Braintree, Essex in December, with the capacity to recharge the batteries of 36 plug-in cars simultaneously
The petrol / diesel ban means that the UK needs new and efficient methods of fast charging to complement more EV charging ports across the country.
In December, Britain’s first courtyard for EVs only opened in Braintree, Essex, giving drivers the chance to load their vehicles.
The service station has 36 EV loads and stores, including a WHSmith, a Post Office, a gym and a wellness area for visitors to practice yoga for drivers to enjoy while their EVs are being charged.
The EV yard is the first in a £ 1 billion nationwide network of 100 electric yards planned for the next five years.
Meanwhile, the city of Coventry is working on a Scalextric-style wireless charging system, which will potentially recharge EVs while they are on the move.
Scalextric-style roads that carry moving EVs could soon be built in Coventry to deal with ‘reach anxiety’
Known as dynamic wireless charging (DWC), the technology would ensure an uninterrupted power supply for EVs while on the move
Coventry is evaluating the feasibility of Scalextric-style technology that would charge electric vehicles (EVs) as they go.
Known as dynamic wireless charging (DWC), the technology would ensure an uninterrupted power supply for EVs while on the move.
The £ 419,000 ‘DynaCov’ project, supported by Coventry City Council, Toyota, National Express and others, would see electric coils embedded under the asphalt on certain stretches of city roads.
These coils, which would be connected to a power source, would transmit wireless energy to a receiver on the vehicle’s wheels.
The electricity would then be relayed from the receiver to the EV battery, providing a continuous source of energy during movement.
Normally, EVs need to be stopped to be recharged while connected to charging stations on the sides of roads and in parking lots, taking up precious time for drivers.
The DWC can be installed in even larger cars or vehicles, such as buses or trucks, allowing recharging in transit and reducing the number of stops, saving time.
The system can also deal with ‘range anxiety’ – drivers’ fear of not having enough load on their VE to get them to their destination.
British non-profit research firm Cenex, another sponsor of the project, told MailOnline that it would be possible to equip existing EVs with the technology needed for dynamic wireless charging, although this can be quite expensive.
However, many EV manufacturers, including BMW and Tesla, are already incorporating wireless charging technology into their vehicles.
Read More: Coventry working on the Scalextric-style EV carrying on the go