An electric car is a vehicle that runs on electricity rather than gasoline or diesel fuel. It is powered by one or more electric motors, which are powered by rechargeable batteries. Electric cars are considered to be a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional gasoline-powered cars because they produce no emissions at the tailpipe.
A standard EV battery may now be charged in 10 minutes thanks to advancements in battery design. Today (October 12, 2022), in the journal Nature, researchers unveiled a record-breaking combination of a quicker charging time and more energy obtained for a longer travel range.
“The need for smaller, faster-charging batteries is greater than ever,” said Chao-Yang Wang, the William E. Diefenderfer Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Penn State and lead author on the study. “There are simply not enough batteries and critical raw materials, especially those produced domestically, to meet anticipated demand.”
The Air Resources Board of California adopted a comprehensive plan in August to impose restrictions on and eventually outlaw the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles in the state. In the United States, the internal combustion engine will essentially be phased out by 2035 in the market for automobiles.
Wang noted that battery-powered electric cars (EVs) must overcome two significant limitations if new car sales are to shift to them: they are too slow to recharge and too huge to be effective and economical. Some EVs can require a whole day to recharge, as opposed to just a few minutes at the petrol station, depending on the battery.
True fast-charging batteries would have immediate impact. Since there are not enough raw minerals for every internal combustion engine car to be replaced by a 150 kWh-equipped EV, fast charging is imperative for EVs to go mainstream.
Professor Chao-Yang Wang
“Our fast-charging technology works for most energy-dense batteries and will open a new possibility to downsize electric vehicle batteries from 150 to 50 kWh without causing drivers to feel range anxiety,” said Wang, whose lab partnered with State College-based startup EC Power to develop the technology.
“The smaller, faster-charging batteries will dramatically cut down battery cost and usage of critical raw materials such as cobalt, graphite and lithium, enabling mass adoption of affordable electric cars.”
The technology relies on internal thermal modulation, an active method of temperature control to demand the best performance possible from the battery, Wang explained.
“Batteries operate most efficiently when they are hot, but not too hot. Keeping batteries consistently at just the right temperature has been major challenge for battery engineers. Historically, they have relied on external, bulky heating and cooling systems to regulate battery temperature, which respond slowly and waste a lot of energy,” Wang said.
Wang and his team decided to instead regulate the temperature from inside the battery. In addition to anode, electrolyte, and cathode, the researchers created a unique battery structure that includes an ultrathin nickel foil as a fourth component.
Acting as a stimulus, the nickel foil self-regulates the battery’s temperature and reactivity which allows for 10-minute fast charging on just about any EV battery, Wang explained.
“True fast-charging batteries would have immediate impact,” the researchers write. “Since there are not enough raw minerals for every internal combustion engine car to be replaced by a 150 kWh-equipped EV, fast charging is imperative for EVs to go mainstream.”
“The study’s partner, EC Power, is working to manufacture and commercialize the fast-charging battery for an affordable and sustainable future of vehicle electrification,” Wang said.
The other coauthors on the study are Teng Liu, Xiao-Guang Yang, Shanhai Ge and Yongjun Leng of Penn State and Nathaniel Stanley, Eric Rountree and Brian McCarthy of EC Power.
The U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Air Force and the William E. Diefenderfer Endowment supported the work.
