The work of the Consortium for Battery Innovation (CBI) has been critical for advancing the lead battery technology to provide reliable, safe and sustainable batteries for an increasingly decarbonized and electrified work. The CBI has developed a technical program concentrated on 12 V automotive and energy storage systems (ESS) applications in order to improve the dynamic charge acceptance (DCA) and lifetime of lead batteries under partial state-of-charge (PSoC) conditions. The technical program includes various projects across the UK, EU and USA that covers both fundamental and applied research. In this presentation, the CBI technical program with a focus on its main findings will be overviewed.

Reactions in lead-acid batteries like oxygen cycle are mostly discussed globally for respective electrodes, without local discretization over electrode area and thickness. At negative electrode, oxygen reduction and oxidation of metallic lead are forming a redox-couple but may have different spatial distributions. Reactions taking place at different locations may explain formation of inhomogeneous and probably deleterious negative-mass structures, esp. from dynamic PSoC battery duty like Start-Stop and frequency regulation.

Lead-acid batteries are often operated at conditions far from equilibrium during CCA, DCA, or HPPC tests with overlapping Faradaic, capacitive, and gas evolution processes. Here, we use synchrotron X-ray diffraction during HPPC of a 2V cell to independently evaluate changes in negative and positive species during charge and discharge pulses. Using these results, we measure variation in utilization and Faradaic charge acceptance during each pulse and its variation with position, SOC, and carbon content.

In Europe, public funding opportunities for lead-based batteries at a fundamental level are limited. For instance, the European Union (EU) is investing heavily in lithium-ion battery chemistries. However, CBI believes that lead batteries could fulfill important roles in the future European circular economy. In this presentation, we will discuss the status of several lead-battery projects that CBI is initiating in Europe.

Innovative component technologies are allowing the lead battery technology to advance towards the performance range of Lithium Battery technology. ArcActive Carbon felt material as replacement of lead grid structure has shown significant improvement regarding the rechargeability of lead batteries. The application in Micro, Mild, and even PHEV and BEV will lead to a high impact on the fuel consumption or emission reduction on one side and on system reliability and driving range on the other side. The development status will be updated, and an outlook will be provided about further potential with East Penn Lead Batteries.

The rise of EVs brings forth new use-cases and technical challenges for low-voltage automotive lead batteries. Attributes such as charge recoverability, float/stand life, and low SoC discharge power are likely to replace “CCA” performance as the defining attributes of low-voltage EV “Auxiliary” batteries. ArcActive has been exploring the applicability of its technology to this emerging use-case. This presentation will detail performance attributes arising from the use of a carbon-fiber structured negative in EV-Aux applications.

Often, batteries are the only power source in parked vehicles. A very deep discharge can result from long-term battery draining with extremely low currents causing premature battery aging and car incidences. The achieved high mass utilization (AMU) and an extremely low acid concentration can change the LAB electrochemistry. The lecture will therefore discuss the electrochemical, chemical, and physical processes under these conditions as well as countermeasures to prevent damage of cells.

A physics-based model has been developed to study the main electrochemical processes at stake during the battery self-discharge at different temperatures, explaining why the battery still remains active even when it is unused. Moreover, we will show how each electrode behaves independently from the other and the further consequences.

Data from SLI batteries in the application are particularly important for the development and validation of diagnostic algorithms. Therefore, batteries from the field were tested in our lab. Electrical results were validated and extended by TDA of several samples to analyze the aging effects in detail. Outcomes of these investigations will be presented and discussed.