EV BATTERIES

Electric-Vehicle Batteries

An electric-vehicle battery (EVB, also known as a traction battery) is a battery used to power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). These batteries are usually rechargeable (secondary) batteries, and are typically lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are specifically designed for a high ampere-hour (or kilowatt-hour) capacity.

 

Electric-vehicle batteries differ from starting, lighting, and ignition (SLI) batteries as they are designed to give power over sustained periods of time and are deep-cycle batteries. Batteries for electric vehicles are characterized by their relatively high power-to-weight ratio, specific energy and energy density; smaller, lighter batteries are desirable because they reduce the weight of the vehicle and therefore improve its performance. Compared to liquid fuels, most current battery technologies have much lower specific energy, and this often impacts the maximum all-electric range of the vehicles.

The most common battery type in modern electric vehicles are lithium-ion and lithium polymer, because of their high energy density compared to their weight.