Noninvasive Aging Analysis of Lithium-Ion Batteries in Extreme Cold Temperatures

This article presents a noninvasive technical analysis of the degradation of four lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) used in extreme frigid weather. In contrast to other studies in which the batteries were tested in laboratory conditions, the LIBs studied in this article were aged in a real application, more specifically in the WindSled project. In this project, an expedition was made using a zero-emission vehicle drawn by kites, covering more than 2500 km on the East Antarctic Plateau. The study performed in this article aims to quantify the degradation of the LIBs during the expedition. The results show a 5% capacity fade, a 30% increase in the internal resistance and no substantial increase in the impedance of the solid electrolyte interface. Moreover, no evidence of dendrite growth at the anode is inferred by the interpretation of the distribution of relaxation times, incremental capacity analysis, and differential voltage analysis. Based on these results, it can be claimed that the LIBs used in the WindSled Project can successfully operate under
–
50 °C. Furthermore, since noninvasive techniques were used to characterize the batteries, they can still be used in upcoming expeditions, with subsequent financial and environmental benefits.