Battery parameters for hybrid electric vehicles

This chapter discusses the evaluation of the key parameters of lithium-ion batteries for power assist and plug-in HEV applications on the basis of reference tests set up by US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) –Department of Energy (DOE); a battery case study is used to highlight the analysis procedure. The chapter then briefly summarizes the main characteristics of lithium-ion batteries already on the market and under development, with emphasis also devoted to safety of each battery-chemistry. The use of supercapacitors (ultracapacitors) in parallel with the batteries to increase both performance and battery life is also discussed, and limits and future developments of lithium-ion batteries and of supercapacitors are included. At the end is a short discussion of electric vehicles powered by PEM fuel cells.