Engineers at Stanford University have developed a new way to make lithium-ion battery packs last longer and suffer less deterioration from fast charging. It could enable electric vehicle batteries to handle more charge cycles and last longer.
The key is to actively manage the amount of electrical current flowing to each cell in a pack, rather than delivering charges uniformly. Initial simulations suggest batteries managed with the new technology could handle at least 20 percent more charge-discharge cycles, even with frequent fast charging, which puts extra strain on the battery.