High performance nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries

In comparison to pure electric vehicles (EV) the opportunities for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) are much better, since range restrictions no longer apply and the interaction of the internal combustion engine and electrical drive bring increased energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. The batteries used in such applications must meet very high standards in terms of performance and service life. Although the battery capacity is smaller than for a purely EV, it needs to be able to generate far higher levels of power. The technical challenges of hybrid applications have led to the development of high-performance batteries. At the forefront of these is the nickel-metal hydride system (NiMH). With specific power and energy data in the range from 300 to 900 W/kg, 55 to 37 Wh/kg, respectively (based on cell weight), excellent charge efficiency and energy throughput levels of more than 10,000 times the nominal energy, the NiMH system comes very close to satisfying the needs of the HEV. Parallel developments with the lithium-ion system based on manganese spinel as cathode material show that, with specific power and energy levels above 1000 W/kg, 50 Wh/kg, respectively, this technology will also be able to play an important role in the future. Service life figures in terms of calendar life have been improved tremendously to about three years, but there is still a need for further improvement in order to meet the specifications of car manufacturers. For this reason, an increase of life span is the subject of intensive development work.