Ante-mortem analysis, electrical, thermal, and ageing testing of state-of-the-art cylindrical lithium-ion cells
Hartmut Popp, Ningxin Zhang, Marcus Jahn, Mikel Arrinda, S. Ritz, Matthias Faber, Dirk Uwe Sauer, Philippe Azaïs, Iosu Cendoya
Abstract
Abstract Thanks to its exceptional performance in terms of high energy and power density as well as long lifespan, the lithium-ion secondary battery is the most relevant electrochemical energy storage technology to meet the requirements for partial or full electrification of vehicles (plug-in hybrids or pure electric vehicles), and thanks to decreasing cost and ongoing technical improvements, it will maintain this role in the near to mid-term future. This study benchmarks eight different (five 21700 and three 18650 format) high-energy cylindrical cells concerning their suitability for automotive applications and aims to give a holistic overview and comparison between them. Therefore, an ante-mortem material analysis, a benchmark of electrical and thermal values as well as a cycle life study were carried out. The results show that even when applying similar concepts like Nickel-rich cathodes with graphite-based anodes, the cells show wide variations in their performance under the same test conditions.