Self-heating, fast-charging battery makes electric vehicles climate-immune

Conventional lithium-ion batteries cannot be rapidly charged at temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but now a team of Penn State engineers has created a battery that can self-heat, allowing rapid charging regardless of the outside chill.

When owners can recharge car batteries in 15 minutes at a charging station, electric vehicle refueling becomes nearly equivalent to gasoline refueling in the time it takes. Assuming that charging stations are liberally placed, drivers can lose their “range anxiety” and drive long distances without worries.

The researchers report the results of their prototype testing in this week's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They found that their self-heating battery could withstand 4,500 cycles of 15-minute charging at 32 degrees F with only a 20-percent capacity loss. This provides approximately 280,000 miles of driving and a lifetime of 12.5 years, longer than most warranties.

Read more at Pennsylvania State University

Image Credit: Chao-Yang Wang / Penn State

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