Experimental analysis of dynamic charge acceptance test conditions for lead-acid cells

This paper presents the results of a series of tests to determine the Dynamic Charge Acceptance (DCA) performance of small form-factor 2 V, 6 Ah, carbon-enhanced VRLA cells designed for Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) applications. A test procedure has been written for a battery test system, based on a modified DCA Short Test profile. Results have been obtained for a batch of cells, tested at various temperatures, rest periods and states of charge. These conditions have been chosen to mimic a range of real-life scenarios which could potentially be encountered during HEV operation. The resulting analysis demonstrates clear variations and trends in DCA performance which may be used to inform conditions for future testing regimes. The same test procedure is then applied to standard lead-acid cells and the results compared.