The U.S. Patent Office has granted canadian firm Panacis Inc a patent for their technology that improves rechargeable battery operation and cycle life at high ambient temperatures. The proprietary technology involves a complex algorithm in the Battery Management System (BMS) that dynamically adjusts certain parameters in response to cell temperature. To date, Panacis’ preliminary testing has shown a lifetime increase from 4 months to more than 19 months for a battery exposed to temperatures of +55C.
“The ability both to operate efficiently at high temperatures and to extend the battery’s life at these temperatures is critical for our military markets,” said Steve Carkner, inventor, founder, and CTO of Panacis. “It is particularly applicable for our soldier system and ground vehicle applications.”
Panacis utilizes its own in-house, proprietary BMS in its products. This allows custom tailoring of the battery and also allows innovations to be deployed easily, sometimes by simply updating the battery’s software.
“Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) battery management systems are fine for toys and consumer gadgets, but they lack the flexibility to tackle the serious energy storage needs of our military and industrial clients,” added Mr. Carkner.
This patented technology is also relevant to other applications such as electric vehicles. Extending the life of lithium batteries under extreme temperatures could reduce or even eliminate the need for cooling on electric vehicles. This would in turn reduce battery pack cost, size, and weight resulting in vehicles that can go farther on a single charge.
