Rapid recharge capability of valve-regulated lead-acid batteries for electric vehicle and hybrid electric vehicle applications

Range limitation is a significant drawback to the successful commercialization of electric vehicles (EVs). An apt description of an EV is ‘a high performance vehicle with a one-gallon fuel tankʹ. In the absence of a ‘super batteryʹ, there are at least two approaches to resolving this drawback. The first approach is rapid recharge, i.e., recharging the battery as close as possible to the same time period as it takes to fill the petrol tank of an internal-combustion-engined (ICE) vehicle. Whilst not extending the vehicle range as such, this approach does enable high usage of the vehicle without experiencing unduly long recharge times. The ability of the battery to accept rapid recharge is paramount for this approach. The second approach is the development of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). In this case, the demand on the battery is the ability to provide, and also absorb from regenerative braking, high specific peak-power levels over a wide range of battery state-of-charge. This paper describes the ability, and indeed limitations, of the valve-regulated Genesis® lead-acid battery in meeting such requirements.