Cell Chemistry and Materials
Research and educational activities in this topic area will focus on energy materials and battery storage systems to bridge the gap between electric vehicles and traditional fossil-fuel-based vehicles.
The focus will be particularly on lifespan and reliability, the convenience of charging (refueling), speed, safety, cost, efficiency, knowledge, and the advancement of workforce talent. The Cell Chemistry and Materials group will research advanced battery materials and cell technologies to obtain high energy densities (>300 miles range) that can be fully charged within 15 min, cost-effective (<$30 K, 300 miles), long lifetime (>12 years, >150 K miles), and safe to operate in a wide temperature range. For smart grids and second-life use of battery packs to be viable, cell technologies will need to support more than 5000 cycles of charging and discharging.
Battery Pack Management and Monitoring
Performance and range of EVs are determined primarily by the battery system, which is the most expensive and major subsystem. The battery management system is the key to efficient energy utilization and adequate range, ultimately determining customer acceptance and widespread adoption of EVs.
The Battery Pack Management and Monitoring group will conduct research and education activities in battery and energy storage systems in the areas of battery systems electronics and mechanical architectures, State-of-Health (SOH) monitoring, including diagnosis and prognosis, State-Of-Charge (SOC) estimation, equalization, and control implementation, and battery charging electronics and controls. Successful roll-out of EVs will be determined by improving battery system reliability and performance, charging (“refueling”) convenience and speed, safety, lifespan, efficiency, and cost.
Cell, Pack, and EV Manufacturing
The global demand for batteries is expected to increase from 184 GWh in 2018 to over 2,600 GWh by 2030, which will be driven by the electrification of vehicles. The projected market demand for lithium-ion batteries used in EVs from 2020 will increase from 213 to 1559 gigawatt-hours.
The United States must produce efficient battery cells, packs, and electric vehicles to remain competitive, especially with new competitors like China. To meet this need, the Cell, Pack, and EV Manufacturing group will conduct research and educational activities in the areas of automation of cell manufacturing, including anodes and cathodes, efficient battery pack manufacturing and testing, end-of-life recycling, and updating manufacturing processes to facilitate new EV-only chassis designs and light-weighting materials.
Grid Integration and Operation with EVs and Repurposed Battery Packs
The increasing population of EVs will place a heavy demand on the traditional electrical grid system. Accelerated charging during peak load periods, in particular, will negatively impact grid operations. Additionally, current grid systems cannot support an increasing number of EVs in residential areas with current charging strategies.
While homeowner investments in solar panels and home battery systems may reduce some grid demand, there must be a system to enable smart integration with the power grid. A widespread and universal infrastructure of DC fast charging (DCFC) stations must be strategically deployed and operated dependent on grid loading to mitigate range anxiety. Finally, in a longer time frame, when EVs reach their end-of-life, the battery systems need to be either recycled or re-purposed to augment the grid as a storage option.
Based on these challenges, the Grid Integration and Operation group will conduct research and educational activities in the areas of analysis and quantification of the impact of EV charging on power distribution system operations, upgrading distribution system operations to include utility managed smart charging control and infrastructure measures, the design and operation of charging infrastructure both on vehicle and station to include G2V, V2G, V2V charging capabilities, the use of refurbished battery packs as a service tool for grid load management, battery charging control, and grid interface hardware/software while taking into consideration the known SOH.