Development and realization of lithium-ion battery modules for starting applications and traction of off-road electric vehicles

The paper describes the development and realization of standard battery modules 12 V, made by LiFePO4 cells selected in a previous study by ENEA and the University of Pisa. Module means the group of four cells series connected, the electronic battery management system, the thermal management system and the mechanical case. Standard means that the same battery module can be used for different applications: in fact, the previous study showed that three standard battery modules, 30 Ah (little size), 60 Ah (medium size) and 100 Ah (large size), are sufficient to reach the levels of voltage/capacity requested by the most part of the applications in the field of the starting/auxiliary supply batteries (also for the nautical sector) and traction of off-road electric vehicles. More units of standard modules can be series/parallel connected to build complete battery systems able to satisfy the required performances. The development and realization of the modules mostly consisted of testing the selected cells to verify their suitability for the above mentioned applications, to make a thermal battery characterization so to define the thermal management system, to develop an electronic battery management system and to build a mechanical case. The paper shows all these aspects in detail.

1 Introduction

Among means of transportation, a large portion is occupied by off-road vehicles used in a variety of commercial and industrial applications. These vehicles include mobile work machines for various applications, such as building sites, earth moving, street cleaning, as well as agriculture, horticulture, greenhouse, and gardening. A diesel engine commonly powers off-road vehicles. The replacement or the combination of the internal combustion engine with an electric motor might be a remarkable step toward energy sustainability by reducing CO₂ emissions and by improving energy utilization efficiency [1] [2] [3].