Battery Types

Battery Types

Battery types for EVs:

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  Lead Acid

  Lead acid batteries are most common type of batteries used in automobiles. Lead acid batteries are inexpensive and can be designed for higher power requirements. Lead acid batteries are safe and reliable but having lower specific energy, short life cycle and power at cold temperature. The cell consists of lead electrodes in sulfuric acid solution and one lead electrode coated with oxide.
  
  Advanced lead acid batteries are also developed but only used in commercial EVs for ancillary loads.
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  Lithium Ion

  Li-ion batteries have higher energy density relative to other electrical energy storage systems and currently used in portable consumer electronics like mobile, laptop etc. Li-ion batteries having higher energy efficiency, high power to weight ratio, lower self-discharge.
  
  Today mostly EVs use Li-ion batteries although chemistry varies, it may be LFP or NMC. The cost of Li-ion battery is about 180$/kWh and energy density is 150 Wh/kg. and research is ongoing to cut down the cost in future. Most of the components can be recycled and but currently the cost of recycling is higher that is big challenges for Industries.
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  Nickel metal hydride (NiMH)

  NiMH type batteries developed for the hybrid vehicles. NiMH batteries are more thermally stable than the Li-ion batteries and longer life cycle than the lead acid batteries & safe. The metal of a nickel metal hydride battery is an intermetallic, AB5.
  
  Where A is a rare earth mixture of lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, praseodymium and B is nickel, cobalt, manganese, and/or aluminium.
  
  The challenges with NiMH batteries are higher cost, high self-discharge and heating at higher temperature.
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  Hydrogen Fuel Cell

  Hydrogen is considered an alternative fuel. The interest in hydrogen as an alternative transportation fuel stems from its ability to power fuel cells in zero-emission FCEVs, its potential for domestic production, its fast filling time, and the fuel cell's high efficiency. In fact, a fuel cell coupled with an electric motor is two to three times more efficient than an internal combustion engine running on gasoline. Hydrogen can also serve as fuel for internal combustion engines.
  
  A fuel cell is a device that uses hydrogen (or hydrogen-rich fuel) and oxygen to create electricity. Fuel cells are more energy efficient than combustion engines and the hydrogen used to power them can come from a variety of sources. If pure hydrogen is used as a fuel, fuel cells emit only heat and water, eliminating concerns about air pollutants or greenhouse gases.