Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Electric vehicles (EVs) play an essential role in developing a sustainable society. EV batteries are the most expensive part of EVs. However, after 10-20 years, EV batteries would not be suitable to provide the required energy and power for EVs. Given the popularity of EVs, it can be foreseen that a large number of retired EV batteries will appear. According to IDTechEx, there will be over 6 million retired EV battery packs by 2030, and the energy capacity of the retired EV batteries is predicted to exceed 275GWh per year by 2030. Among many other methods (e.g., recycling and recovery), reusing retired EV batteries (as second-life batteries) for energy storage system applications becomes appealing since they still have 70%-80% of their capacity. In addition, compared with direct recycling, reusing retired EV batteries can reduce the carbon footprint by 17%. However, there are significant research gaps in the second-life EV batteries for energy storage system applications, including the efficient evaluation and sorting of second-life batteries, the development of battery management system (BMS) software and hardware, and the quantitative techno-economic assessment of various applications (from residential power backup to grid-scale applications). The proposed comprehensive system can be used to conduct research to fill the research gaps. Using the proposed comprehensive system, several projects will be conducted. High-quality results are expected to be obtained, including 1) A metric or standard will be developed to evaluate, characterize, and sort the second-life EV batteries. 2) Based on the characteristics of different retired EV batteries, their suitable applications will be suggested. 3) A highly accurate advanced multiple states co-estimation algorithm will be developed for battery state estimation. 4) A dynamic balancing current-based voltage equalization for series-connected second-life EV batteries will be developed. 5) The remaining useful life of the second-life EV batteries will be predicted. 6) Various BMS algorithms and hardware designs will be developed, tested, and validated. 7) Prototypes of the BMSs will be built. 8) The developed BMSs and second-life EV batteries will be implemented in real applications. 9) The techno-economic aspect of reusing second-life EV batteries will be quantitatively assessed in various applications. 10) In the next five years, at least 36 highly qualified personnel will be trained with hands-on experiences, relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities. Our society will also benefit. 1) This system will help our society to reuse second-life EV batteries. 2) The usage of second-life EV batteries will decrease the cost and therefore promote clean energy usage. 3) Adopting energy storage and renewable energy will contribute to Canada's commitment to greenhouse gas emission reduction.