Fraunhofer Unveils Latest Discovery on EV Batteries

Apart from the fact that electric vehicle (EV) batteries do not allow for thousands of miles on one charge, they are only as good as their weakest cell. This is because their 100-plus cells are connected in series, which means that if one of them dies, the whole battery pack ceases to work. Thanks to a new research being conducted at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, this is now about to change.

The Institute developed a prototype system, with each cell within a battery featuring its own microcontroller that tracks parameters such as charge and temperature level. All these processors communicate with one another, and with the central onboard computer of the vehicle.

This way, if an inpidual cell loses power while the others are still well-charged, it gets shut off and uncoupled so that the current bypasses it. This suggests that the vehicle can keep going, utilizing the electricity stored in the other cells. However, this would not be normally possible.

Drivers are still made aware of the faulty cell so they can have it replaced at their convenience. If it were a traditional battery pack, the whole thing must be replaced.

The beauty of the new technology is that it can make EV batteries more dependable and longer lasting, as well as cut their price. This is simply because cells of slightly varying capacities could be employed, with not a single cell throwing off the battery pack’s capacity as a whole. Normally, cells of the same capacity should be chosen, which escalates production costs.

To date, Fraunhofer is working at miniaturizing the technology.