Idling-stop vehicle road tests of advanced valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) battery

The results of road tests on valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries in an idling-stop (stop and go) vehicle are reported. Idling-stop systems are simple systems to improve fuel economy of automobiles. They are expected to spread widely from an environmental perspective. Performances of a conventional flooded battery, a conventional VRLA battery, and an improved VRLA battery were compared in road tests with an idling-stop vehicle. It was found that the improved VRLA battery was suited to idling-stop applications because it had a smaller capacity loss than the conventional flooded battery during partial-state-of-charge (PSoC) operation. The positive grid was corroded in layers, unlike the usual grain boundary corrosion of SLI battery grid. It is because the corrosion proceeded mainly under PSoC conditions. The corrosion rate could be controlled by potential control of positive plates.