New AI Tech Extends EV Battery Lifespan by 23%
The popularity of electric vehicles is attached to their mechanics that remove the age-long issues attached to petrol and diesel engines.
However, the automobile industry is now facing a different kind of maintenance challenge related to the long-term health and degradation of the vehicle’s battery.
Frequent fast charging leads lithium-ion components to naturally deteriorate over time. A study now shows that AI can grease the wheels of the problem and extend the battery life of EVs by significantly slowing the degradation.
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, located in Gothenburg, Sweden, developed an AI-based charging method that can optimise the current during fast-charging cycles.
The study, published by the academic journal IEEE, reveals that the method can extend the vehicle’s battery life by as much as 23%. This represents nearly a quarter of the battery’s lifespan.
Going for the long haul
Introducing the technology as a milestone for long-term vehicle health, Meng Yuan, who is a researcher at Chalmers University of Technology’s Department of Electrical Engineering, hails that the system redefines battery management.
He says: “This work introduces the first explicit formulation of a lifelong battery fast charging problem. The proposed method achieves a significant improvement in performance, where battery lifespan is extended to 703 equivalent full cycles….representing a 22.9% improvement over the standard baseline.”
While modern EV batteries are already designed to last for years without defects or significant degradation, frequent fast-charging can accelerate aging.
High-powered charging can stress the components inside the cells, potentially causing lithium plating, where ions build up on the anode, causing degradation.
The AI-powered battery management system (BMS) aims to avoid exactly that. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology used reinforcement learning within the BMS, which is a machine learning technique that engineers use in systems to learn through trial and error for the best possible result.
Adding the extra mileage
Researchers at Chalmers used “reinforcement learning”, which includes adjusting the current based on the pack’s chemistry and state of health during fast-charging cycles.
As the battery ages, the AI adjusts the voltage to ensure that aging components like the anode, cathode and the electrolyte are not stressed.
A 2024 study by Geotab says that the average annual degradation of an EV battery is only around 1.8% per year. This means an EV battery is expected to last at least 20 years or 200,000 miles, with many lasting significantly longer.
According to some estimates, a Tesla battery can last from 300,000 to 500,000 miles, depending on its usage and charging patterns.
A 23% improvement would mean nearly 70,000 extra miles on the low end and more than 100,000 more miles on the high end.
For drivers, this optimisation translates to several more years of usable range. The researchers framed the battery life extension in terms of the number of charge and discharge cycles an EV can handle.
The authors of the study say: “The proposed approach maintains comparable charging efficiency while largely extending battery lifespan, demonstrating that lifespan enhancement can be achieved without compromising charging speed”.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, Americans drive about 13,476 miles each year on average. For drivers who rely on fast-charging frequently, this new AI-enabled charging method could allow them to keep their EVs for several more years.
However, it is worth noting that this smart charging experiment is yet to test the real world as it was conducted in a lab and not on physical batteries. If this is proven in the real world, it could leave a lasting impact on battery warranties and the used EV market.
As AI is seeping into almost every industry, the research provides a clear roadmap for integrating Gen AI software to solve hardware issues.
