Yan Wang, chair of the William Smith Dean School of Mechanical Engineering at WPI, is the principal investigator for this three-year project. Other researchers include Heng Pan, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology; Ming Tang, assistant professor of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice University; and Bryan Yonemoto of Microvast Inc.
The researchers mentioned above will build on their previous research, namely the use of solvent-free methods to manufacture battery electrodes, to reduce the cost of lithium batteries and shorten charging time.
Wang stated, "Electric vehicle batteries face two key challenges: excessively high costs and excessively long charging times. The goal of this project is to reduce battery costs by 15% through innovative manufacturing processes and to enable a full charge in just 15 minutes."
The project is funded by the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC) as part of a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy, receiving approximately $1.2137 million, representing about 50% of the project cost. USABC is a division of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR), a partner of FCA, Ford, and General Motors. The agreement between USABC and the U.S. Department of Energy mandates the development of electrochemical energy storage technologies to support the commercialization of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, all-electric, and fuel cell lithium-ion battery vehicles. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Commission (MassCEC) will also contribute approximately $194,300 through the AmplifyMass program. Three universities and Microvast will provide the remaining funding.
Commercial lithium-ion automotive battery electrodes are typically made from a mixture of energy-supplying active materials, conductive carbon, polymer binders, and solvents, forming a thick paste. This paste is coated onto a flat metal substrate and then moved beneath a furnace to dry. The solvent can be recovered through a complex evaporation-condensation process. Finally, the paste-coated metal is pressed with rollers, cut into small pieces, and assembled into batteries.
The USABC project team will develop a process that sprays dried composite materials directly onto a substrate, eliminating the need for solvent removal, drying time, and equipment for solvent recovery. This process will also enable the tight encapsulation of materials onto the substrate, creating energy-dense, fast-charging batteries.
In 2018, approximately 361,000 electric vehicles were sold in the United States, the majority of which were all-electric. However, the cost of electric vehicles remains a stumbling block to sales, as most electric vehicles are more expensive than traditional cars.
Lithium-ion batteries are the most expensive component in electric vehicles, so reducing battery costs is crucial for them to compete with gasoline-powered vehicles. A U.S. Department of Energy research project aims to reduce the cost of lithium-ion battery packs to $100 per kWh and shorten charging time to 15 minutes.
