WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EV BATTERY HEALTH

It is easy to understand why electric car manufacturers choose to power their vehicles with Li-ion batteries. Because their energy density is much higher than, for example, lead-acid or nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries, they can reduce the overall size of the battery pack and easily fit in in a normal-sized car. However, there are other factors to consider as well: in the automotive industry, safety is paramount.

Factors affecting battery degradation

Lithium-ion battery is a low maintenance system: it does not require scheduled cycling to prolong its life, nor does it have the sulfation problem of lead acid batteries, which sometimes occurs when those are stored without periodic topping charge. And in case problems should occur, EVs are equipped with charging safeguards, ensuring the batteries are sufficiently protected during repeated charging sessions in a short period of time.



Still, repeatedly charging a battery is always going to cause degradation. High temperatures, operating at high and low state of charge and high electric current as well. As a result, the amount of energy the battery can store is reduced, as is the amount of power it can deliver. But because a Li-ion battery used in an EV is generally able to deliver more power than the car needs at any time, only the decreasing energy storage is of importance. It is also key to note that a decrease in storage capacity is not necessarily proportional to an EV's action radius: factors like temperature, driving habits and cargo/passenger load also come into play here.



Not all Li...