Types of Batteries on Electric Vehicles
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- personNabin Pradhan
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EV battery is commonly known as the rechargeable battery used to power the motor of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (BEV) as well.
The battery used in electric vehicles arrives in a wide range depending upon their durability, power-to-weight ratio, charging cycles, and the compound used on it.
Most commonly, lithium-ion batteries are used in most electric vehicles as they are more durable and easily available for commercial use as well.
Here we will be discussing the different types of batteries that are commonly used in electric vehicles.
Types of EV Batteries
Lead-Acid batteries
Lead-Acid batteries are the most commonly used, cheapest, and the oldest type of batteries used in EVs. Within Lead-Acid are two main types of batteries- Deep cycle and Automobile engine starter batteries.
The first type is particularly designed to use a small percentage of its capacity to provide charge and start the engine while the latter, i.e. deep cycle batteries provide a continuous flow of electricity to run the vehicle. Deep cycle units are mostly used in golf carts.
Moreover, an important factor about lead-acid batteries is that they shouldn’t be drained below 50% capacity as this degrades the battery's overall life.
Previously Lead-Acid batteries were the most used battery in electric vehicles due to their easy availability and low cost. However, BEVs nowadays don’t prefer using this unit much.
Nickel Metal Hydride
Nickel-Metal Hydride is the next commonly used cell. These batteries are less efficient as they can’t be discharged more than 60% to sustain their lifecycle. However, when used in good hands, these units do provide an exceptionally long battery life.
The first generation of Toyota Rav4 Hybrid used Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries that still operate well after 100,000 miles of usage.
Also Read: Why is Tesla so popular in the EV market?
Zebra
Zebra batteries, also known as sodium nickel chloride are another type of battery used in EVs. These batteries used sodium chloroaluminate salt as the electrolyte. This unit has a specific energy of 120 Wh/kg.
These batteries have more than a thousand charge cycles and are nontoxic as well. However, the downside of it is that the Zebra battery must be heated before the use which wastes some energy and also makes it non-efficient.
Lithium-ion
Well, we all must have heard about these battery types. The lithium-ion battery is the most used battery in electric vehicles nowadays. Be it two-wheeler or four-wheelers, this unit is the most commonly used battery type in EVs.
Leaving aside automobiles, these batteries are even used in commercialized consumer electronics and gadgets like laptops, smartphones, tablets, and more.
These batteries have a high energy density and longer cycle life. However, the major downside of lithium-ion batteries happens to be their sensitivity to temperature. The performance of these cells degrade with age while the power performance is also affected at low temperature.
Moreover, recent EVs are using new variants of lithium-ion batteries that are designed to provide fire resistance, rapid charging, and longer lifespans as well. The new era li-ion batteries are speculated to provide more than 10 years of life and more than 7000 charge cycles.
Top battery makers such as Panasonic are working with a deep focus to increase lithium-ion batteries’ durability and efficiency.
Also Read: 5 reasons why you should probably switch onto Electric Vehicles
Battery Capacity of different EVs
Non-plug-in hybrid Cars: 0.65 kWh to 1.8 kWh
Plug-in hybrid Cars: 4.4kWh to 34 kWh
All-Electric Cars: 6.0 kWh to 100kWh.
Also Read: Hyundai plans to launch 6 new Fast Charging Electric Cars
