Electric Vehicle Batteries: The older they get, the safer they are

Batteries in electric vehicles become safer with age. In the photo: Project manager Christian Ellersdorfer from TU Graz with colleague Christian Trummer at the highly dynamic crash system, located in the Battery Safety Center Graz. Lunghammer - TU Graz By Christoph Pelzl - Studies at TU Graz show that the older an traction battery of electric vehicles (EV) is, the lower the danger it poses. Now the researchers and industry partners want to define parameters for the subsequent use of discarded batteries. As part of the project "SafeBattery", a team from Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has been investigating the behaviour of lithium-based batteries in electric cars under crash loads for the past four years. "The performance of new battery cells is largely known, so we dealt with the entire life cycle," explains project manager Christian Ellersdorfer at the Institute of Vehicle Safety. Together with industry partners such as AVL, Audi and Daimler, research was conducted into scenarios that a battery can experience in the course of its life: for example, vibrations and strong accelerations caused by parking bumps, serious accidents and the constant charging and discharging of batteries.