USABC long-term EV targets highlight the need for higher energy density in automotive batteries [1].  Many promising high energy materials have been demonstrated in academia, but there is a gap between academic and industrial research.  This is partly due to the incompatibility of automotive targets with academic research metrics.  Some common metrics are shared between the two arenas, but there remain others that do not translate due to scale.  Bench-top experiments are helpful for identifying promising materials, but key automotive metrics like volume change are impractical to measure in bench-scale cells.  Thus, scale-up of benchtop research is critical to fully addressing automotive needs.

This talk will detail various metrics that lend themselves to scale-up.  Specifically, we will discuss Ford’s efforts to quantify volume change in Silicon-based anodes.  Previously, Ford has reported on electrochemical performance of silicon-based cells [2], and here we will tie those results in with volume expansion for different cell configurations.  We will also combine the results with our ongoing Automotive Target Modelling efforts [3].  Finally, this talk will provide an overview of the user-based battery fabrication facilities available at the University of Michigan Battery Lab.

[1] “USABC Goals for Advanced Batteries for EVs - CY 2020 Commercialization,”  http://www.uscar.org/commands/files_download.php?files_id=364 (2014)

[2] M. Karulkar, R. Blaser, R. Kudla, J. Power Sources, 273, 1194-1201 (2015).

[3] M. Karulkar, “Battery Metrics and Real World Automotive Target Modelling,” 227th Electrochemical Society Meeting, Paper MA2015-01 33, Chicago, IL (2015).