Using thermal energy to enable fast charging of energy-dense batteries

In a recent Nature article, Wang et al. demonstrate how asymmetric thermal modulation, in addition to two scale-bridging modifications, achieves 2,000 fast-charge cycles in energy-dense NMC Li-ion battery pouch cells. These pouch-cell results are projected to be equivalent to a 500,000 mile drive distance in an EV pack. Additionally, the work utilizes a digital twin to simulate an EV pack with temperature regulated by simple air cooling, emphasizing the utility of digital twins in mitigating over-engineering. Further refinement and application of these approaches promises significant benefit beyond EV batteries. In a recent Nature article, Wang et al. demonstrate how asymmetric thermal modulation, in addition to two scale-bridging modifications, achieves 2,000 fast-charge cycles in energy-dense NMC Li-ion battery pouch cells. These pouch-cell results are projected to be equivalent to a 500,000 mile drive distance in an EV pack. Additionally, the work utilizes a digital twin to simulate an EV pack with temperature regulated by simple air cooling, emphasizing the utility of digital twins in mitigating over-engineering. Further refinement and application of these approaches promises significant benefit beyond EV batteries.