Design Optimization For Minimizing The Production Cost Of Lithium Ion Batteries In Electrified Vehicles

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b3205875

It has been recognized that the high cost of lithium-ion batteries (LIB) for electrified vehicles (EV) is one of the major obstacles to the commercialization of them. There is an ongoing effort to reduce the cost of LIBs both at the cell and the pack levels. This requires accurate cost and performance models of LIBs. Our goal in this study was to obtain the best design for specific performance and design requirements in order to minimize production costs. We develop our battery model based on the Argonne National Laboratory’s battery performance and cost model (BatPaC 5.0). A process-based cost model was utilized to model the production cost of the LIB by defining all the production steps and their process assumptions for a battery manufacturing plant. An optimization problem is defined by identifying decision variables from design parameters that have remarkable effects on the battery cost and performance. Cost optimization was done for four different vehicle types and four cathode chemistries. It is concluded that batteries made of NMC811 cathodes have the lowest costs among the four chemistries. Additionally, high-range battery electric vehicles (BEV) have the lowest specific costs in $ per kg. Several case studies were conducted to investigate the effects of changes in the production volume or battery performance requirements on the optimized design and production costs. As a result of these studies, we concluded that increasing the production volume will decrease the battery pack production cost. Increasing cathode thickness is an effective measure for decreasing costs. 30 and 15-minute fast charging will limit the cathode thickness.