How to correctly use the power battery to extend the service life?

How long the battery can last depends not only on the quality of the battery itself, but also on how it is usually used. When deepening the investigation and viewing of a Japanese car company and communicating with its senior engineers, the author summarizes how to use the battery correctly and extend the service life of the power battery according to the content and experience of this communication. Mature" little master reference.power battery

For an electric car, the most valuable part is the power battery, so when buying an electric car, you will consider how long the battery will last. According to the current level of battery technology, the battery of an electric car can continue to be used for about ten years if it is used normally. According to the current warranty policy of Nissan and General Motors and other car manufacturers, it is eight years or 160,000 kilometers.

1. Prevent the battery from being overcharged

The battery cannot be overcharged, that is, the battery is often overcharged, which will affect the service life of the battery. One of the reasons for this is that we can get a little experience from the batteries in the most ubiquitous mobile devices today that only last three or four years.

To give an example close to the day, the mobile phones we use in our daily life, such as Apple iPhone 6s, or Xiaomi mobile phones, Huawei Mate 7 mobile phones, etc., in most cases, are completely exhausted and then fully charged. Frequent full charging is actually a very serious matter for lithium-ion batteries. The result is that the mobile phone battery starts to be useless after about three years.

For example, on a car, Nissan's electric car Leaf, has a setting to improve battery life, let the battery charge to 80% and stop. Although this reduces the travel distance, it can greatly improve the life of the battery pack. number. This setting is completely satisfactory for only daily commuting, and the key is one of the easiest ways to improve battery life.

For electric cars, there is another reason why it should not be overcharged, that is, when the electric car is braking or going downhill, it can recover a part of the energy and recharge it back to the battery, so this requires the battery pack to have a certain amount of energy. There is room for charging, and it is uncertain when regenerative braking is required to charge the battery during the process of driving.

2. Regarding pure electric cars, the battery pack prevents deep discharge

For pure electric cars, the corresponding prevention of overcharging above is to prevent deep discharge. One of the characteristics of lithium-ion batteries is that they are partially recycled and cannot be deeply charged. There is no memory effect for lithium ions, so the use of partial discharge has no effect on the battery and will not reduce the operating capacity of the battery.

In the case of the Nissan Leaf, there are 12 battery charge status scales on the dashboard, which generally allow you to keep the power between the 3-10 scales, which means that you can use it at will during this period. . For a better battery energy management system, when the battery power reaches a certain threshold, it will issue a warning, "How far do you still need to travel?" to remind you that you need to organize charging according to your itinerary.

3. Regarding plug-in hybrid vehicles, it is possible to consider the use of "mountain mode"

According to the above-mentioned prevention of over-discharge of the battery, for plug-in hybrid cars like Toyota Prius or extended-range electric cars, such as Chevrolet Volt, BMW i3, etc., it is almost a form of first running out of battery power and then switching to a gasoline engine. Fortunately, because of the battery management system, it knows when to stop using the battery, preventing deep discharge.

However, there is a situation that the current battery management system has no way to identify, that is, there is a driving condition that requires high-power driving such as climbing a long slope in your travel route. If you use the battery blindly, it is very simple. Exhausting the battery may lead to a deep discharge of the battery. If you can switch the working mode to the mountain mode, that is, the engine working mode, or choose a certain point of time to leave the EV mode, it can save at least 20% of the battery power.

In addition, it needs to be clarified. In fact, in the operating system of the Toyota Prius, there is a similar operation option for the driver to make the vehicle exit the pure electric mode, which can use more gasoline and less battery during this period of travel. .

4. Use timing chargers to minimize time in high charge conditions

Regarding charging, in many cases, it is chosen to charge late at night, which has little impact on the load of the power grid, and the electricity bill is relatively cheap, but it is very likely to be overcharged. So, how to ensure that the battery can maintain the optimal state of charge?

For example, suppose that when your battery is only 50%, but this 50% is difficult to maintain your travel requirements for the next day, and now, the battery only needs to be charged for 60 minutes to reach 80%, and then satisfied with your next day driving needs. Then, at this time, a charger with a timing function is required to ensure that the battery is reduced in high state of charge.

In fact, this charging timer has other application purposes. For example, in normal times, you don’t need to wait beside the car for charging, you can plug it in at any time, people can do other work and come back, and for businesses, you can Provide time charging; in addition, it can also allow the battery to cool down after charging to ensure the safety of the battery when traveling next time. Of course, in extremely cold areas, this is not required.

Summarize

Regarding the maintenance of electric cars, especially the maintenance and use of batteries, it is particularly critical, especially remember this basic principle to prevent overcharging and overdischarging. The battery management system is also managed according to this principle. Of course, the application process also needs to follow this principle. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop a charger with a timer function. Maybe this is also an entrepreneurial project.