Effective cooling of lithium-ion batteries is critical to their lifetime. It is also widely accepted that maintaining cells at the same temperature as one another is of higher importance than the cell temperature itself, although this should be controlled carefully within operating limits. As such, there is an optimum temperature at which lithium-ion cells like to operate.
This often produces the need for complicated cooling systems that can both heat and cool batteries, which adds complexity, weight and requires serviceable items such as pumps or compressors. Vantage Power are working with Flint Engineering on developing the application of a technology that innovates in both these areas; it does not require the use of a pump to remove the heat and it is close to isothermal even during periods of high C-rate charge, making it suitable for fast opportunity charging scenarios.