Thermal modulation breakthrough promises rapid recharge for EV batteries

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A typical EV battery can be charged in 10 minutes thanks to a breakthrough in electric vehicle battery design at Pennsylvania State University.

This 10-min fast-charging battery was developed for electric cars, with the black box on the top containing a battery management system to control the module
This 10-min fast-charging battery was developed for electric cars, with the black box on the top containing a battery management system to control the module - EC Power

The combination of a shorter charge time and more energy acquired for longer travel range was announced on October 12, 2022 in Nature.

“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.”

Wang said that the shift to EVs will require resolution of two challenges: they are too slow to recharge and too large to be efficient and affordable.

“Our fast-charging technology works for most energy-dense batteries and will open a new possibility to downsize electric vehicle batteries from 150 to 50kWh without causing drivers to feel range anxiety,” said Wang said in a statement. “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.”

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The technology relies on internal thermal modulation, an active method of temperature control to demand the best performance possible from the battery, Wang said. 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. According to Penn State, the team developed a new battery structure that adds an ultrathin nickel foil as the fourth component besides anode, electrolyte and cathode. 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 said.

“True fast-charging batteries would have immediate impact,” the researchers noted in their paper. “Since there are not enough raw minerals for every internal combustion engine car to be replaced by a 150kWh-equipped EV, fast charging is imperative for EVs to go mainstream.”

Project partner EC Power is working to manufacture and commercialise the fast-charging battery for an affordable and sustainable future of vehicle electrification, Wang said. 

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