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Battery Metrics and Real-World Automotive Target Modelling
Conversely, much of the work performed on early-stage technology focuses on one specific component, like the anode or cathode. Half-cell configurations are typically used with Lithium metal, and not a real-world counter electrode. Also, experiments are usually carried out in research cells (coin, Swagelok, etc) which carry high weight and volume overhead in exchange for stability and reproducibility with small electrodes. Thus, extrapolating the experimental performance of a material in a research setting to compare with a cell-level target is difficult.
To address this gap, an automotive target modelling tool has been developed and demonstrated on several candidate systems.[2] The model allows comparison of early-stage materials with real-world automotive targets from USABC, including energy density, power density, specific energy, and specific power (Figure 1). It also allows the proposal of hypothetical scenarios to identify the most promising areas of development, as well as potential showstoppers (Figure 2).
An in-depth discussion of Ford’s Carbon-Silicon composite anode research will be discussed in the context of automotive target modelling, as will several other battery systems. A discussion on metrics in general will also be presented, as well as the development of a systematic material assessment protocol and “early assessment targets.”
Figure 1: Automotive target modelling for several investigated C-Si systems, for Specific Power.
Figure 2: Using Automotive target modelling to assess hypothetical scenarios and identify cases where all targets can be met.
