What is the life of a high voltage battery? – Car news

When we discuss electric mobility, most people focus on the high voltage battery. Not for less, because the battery is a major factor in the evolution of electric vehicles today.

When bringing up the agenda of electric mobility, we often hear scary words: ” The electric car has already died three times, this is the fourth time . ” However, few people know exactly when those deaths occurred and what the cause was.

For this reason, it is important to know a little about history of electric mobility . After all, those who do not know the past risk making the same mistakes.

It all started with creating a electric motor by Ányos Jedrick in 1828 , in Hungary. However, The first electric cars were powered by electric trains Because of The first rechargeable lead-acid battery was invented by Gaston Planté in 1859.

O the first electric vehicle (in this case, a tricycle ) was founded in 1881 for Gustave Trouve . Later, other models were also presented by Thomas Parker in 1884 and William Morrison in 1890.

The surprising thing is that the first car of the car manufacturer Porsche it was electric, Porsche P1 created from scratch by himself Ferdinand Porsche. Two years later, the first hybrid car in history was created, which had internal combustion and electric motors. Another interesting fact: the first speed records were recorded using electric cars, including the first car to reach 100 km / h in 1889.

But if the electric car was so big, how did it die in the first place? In fact, we can say that he was “killed” by Henry Ford with the Ford Model T . With the large production and consumption of gasoline, electric vehicles, which had batteries, were replaced because of influence the oil industry.

After the first recorded “death” in 1930 Electric cars had several attempts to restart in the 1950s, 1970s and 1990s. (interesting how everything can change in 20 years), always looking to solve problems with the production of dangerous gases or fuel shortages .

However, good reasons are not enough to change the world without good alternatives. Despite the development of the first lithium cobalt oxide batteries in the 1980s and several car models introduced in the 1990s, it was around the 2010s (again 20 years) that companies became interested. Tesla, JAC, BYD, Mitsubishi, Renault, Nissan, Chevrolet and Volvo invest in concrete projects.

We can see that the “deaths” attributed to electric vehicles were mostly related to cost of development and production , with a hint of conflicting interests. Electric cars haven’t evolved much in decades, but with the advent of smaller and smaller batteries , cheaper and more efficient they are not just an alternative and have become a solution to sustainable mobility.

O The price of batteries has decreased rapidly and significantly . From 2008 to 2022, the price per kWh has decreased from approximately US$1359 to $159, 89% discount within 14 years . Not to mention advances in battery density. The model launched in 2019 can collect, on average, 120 Wh per kilogram of battery, while the new battery is announced by Chinese CATL at the Shanghai Motor Show you will be able to collect 500 Wh per kilo. This represents four times more energy and the same mass less than five years of development.

However, Many people are afraid of the early death of the battery and, accordingly, the high cost of replacement . It is important to emphasize that, unlike the mobile phone, Electric vehicle batteries are made up of several cells that are partially interchangeable , greatly reducing the cost of future repairs.

Also, it is important to understand that the life span of a high voltage battery is not the same as a lead acid battery. A lead acid battery has a useful life that can vary from 3 to 10 years, depending on the conditions.

Backup battery and high voltage battery life are measured in charge and discharge cycles, which vary by model. Another commonality is the influence that extreme temperatures can have on the useful life of both batteries. The difference between them begins in relation to ability to withstand high temperatures.

In addition, high voltage batteries have several control and protection systems, such as BMS (Battery Management System) and temperature control systems for cooling and heating. Another important thing to distinguish each battery is the ability to store energy in each system . This is important because the smaller the battery, the more often it will be discharged and charged, and it is these discharges and charges that count as a cycle. That’s why, Smaller batteries tend to have a shorter lifespan, but this depends on the usage.

Speaking of cycles, it is important to emphasize that cycle is counted only when deep discharge and recharging occurs . To facilitate understanding, it is assumed that every time the battery is discharged to 100% and recharged, a cycle is counted. If you only discharge 50% and recharge the same 50%, it is considered half cycle.

So you don’t have to wait for the battery level to drop too low to recharge, nor do you have to wait until it reaches 100% to finish recharging. On the contrary, it is recommended to avoid that the battery goes below 20% and always charge to 100%.

But how long is the life of a high voltage battery? Well, for starters, producers provide a guarantee of five to eight years for an obvious reason: they know that the probability of having a problem in that period of time is low.

As mentioned earlier, the number of battery cycles varies depending on build quality, ranging from 1,500 to over 4,000 cycles. Nope however, this refers to the lifetime of the vehicle. It is estimated to lose storage capacity of 1% to 2% per year and, when reaching less than 70% of the original capacity, replacement is recommended. That is, in the car, this battery can have service life of 15 to 30 years. But this is not the end of the useful life of the battery, as it can be used for other activities, such as Photovoltaic energy collection for many years to come.

Within its life in the car, the battery can provide energy to many years and hundreds of thousands of kilometers . There is even a record of a Tesla in Germany has already reached the 1 million mile mark (1.6 million km) and continues to run to reach new milestones.

After the information presented, we can conclude that something we can no longer say about electric car batteries is that thrown away.

Source: Cars