Characterization of 5.1kWh Lithium-Iron-Phosphate Electric Vehicle Battery Pack for High Performance Marine-Specific Loads and Applications

Abstract

The electric vehicle industry is one of the most exciting and rapidly changing industries on the global market. An explosion of investment and technological breakthroughs within the past two decades have already been experienced by a multitude of start-ups, mid-sized companies, and multi-national conglomerates alike. There is no industry more primed for continued innovation and evolution as a direct result of research into battery technology and future compact mobile energy sources. However, Lithium-ion batteries continue to be the limiting factor in the ability of EVs to match modern internal combustion engine performance.

An industry that is experiencing an even faster wave of economic expansion and growth is the electric marine industry; it is experiencing much of the growing pains the automotive EV industry felt two decades prior. In a similar vein, Lithium-ion battery technology is also a limiting factor for the pace of technological development. However, most Lithium-ion EV batteries currently designed and manufactured are intended for the road, where the dynamic load profiles and application-specific requirements and features diverge significantly. This thesis investigates the results of applying marine-specific concepts and requirements on second hand Lithium-ion battery technologies. These used batteries are a common energy source available to marine EV start-ups and small companies that do not have access to Tier 1 battery OEMs. Exploring the needs for future development of marine EV intended Lithium-ion batteries, this project also assesses the difficulties in properly characterizing unique high-performance power curves in harsh and taxing environments both for electric powertrains and batteries.