In this paper, the harmonic content of the battery current in a commercial hybrid vehicle (bus) is measured and analyzed for a number of different driving situations. It is found that the most prominent harmonic reaches peak magnitudes that can be higher than 10% of the maximum dc-current level with a maximum frequency less than 150 Hz. Further, it is found that this harmonic can be approximated using a fitted, simple analytical expression with reasonable agreement for all driving situations considered.

This paper presents a comparison of the harmoniccontent in the battery current in two, commercialhybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) (intercity passenger buses)when operated in realistic drive scenarios. These harmonicscan contribute to issues related to electromagnetic compatibilityand indirectly accelerate the aging of the battery dueto elevated cell temperatures caused by associated ohmiclosses. A key finding is that low-frequency harmonics (upto approximately 130 Hz) attributed to resolver eccentricityand non-ideal effects in the voltage-source inverter (VSI) (upto approximately 260 Hz) were significant in terms of magnitudes.Also, the variation between the two HEVs (in termsof current magnitude) were substantial for these harmonics.This is an important observation since it demonstratesthat significant, low-frequency harmonics can be presentin the battery current and that modeling and collectingexperimental data from a single corresponding vehicle maynot sufficiently represent the harmonic content in the batterycurrent for a fleet of vehicles.

This paper describes an experimental setup for investigating the effects of current ripple on lithium-ion battery cells. The experimental setup is designed so that twelve li-ion cells can be simultaneously tested in a controlled environment. The experimental setup allows for a wide range of current ripple in terms of frequency and amplitude. Additionally, the quantification of the current ripple effects such as the aging of li-ion cells implies that a precise measurement system has to be designed which also are discussed in the paper.

Sinusoidal ripple-current charging has previously been reported to increase both charging efficiency and energy efficiency and decrease charging time when used to charge lithium-ion battery cells. In this paper, we show that no such effect exists in lithium-ion battery cells, based on an experimental study of large-size prismatic cells. Additionally, we use a physics-based model to show that no such effect should exist, based on the underlying electrochemical principles.

With the vehicle industry poised to take the step into the era of electric vehicles, concerns have been raised that AC harmonics arising from switching of power electronics and harmonics in electric machinery may damage the battery. In light of this, we have studied the effect of several different frequencies on the aging of 28 Ah commercial NMC/graphite prismatic lithium-ion battery cells. The tested frequencies are 1 Hz, 100 Hz, and 1 kHz, all with a peak amplitude of 21 A. Both the effect on cycled cells and calendar aged cells is tested. The cycled cells are cycled at a rate of 1C:1C, i.e., 28 A during both charging and discharging, with the exception of a period of constant voltage at the end of every charge. After running for one year, the cycled cells have completed approximately 2000 cycles. The cells are characterized periodically to follow how their capacities and power capabilities evolve. After completion of the test about 80% of the initial capacity remained and no increase in resistance was observed. No negative effect on either capacity fade or power fade is observed in this study, and no difference in aging mechanism is detected when using non-invasive electrochemical methods of post mortem investigation.

For safety and longevity reasons, in subzero temperatures, lithium-ion batteries can only be charged after precommissioningtheir temperature. Therefore, in such conditions fast charging depends on fast heating. Recently,the injection of AC currents into lithium-ion batteries has been reported as a technique with potential to decreaseheating time. This paper proposes a method based on a multi-objective algorithm for DC-DC converter designusing transformerless resonant filters. The method enables the DC-DC converters to produce magnified AC currentin addition to the DC current. Using the proposed design method, a topological survey of DC-DC converters withmagnified AC current capability composed of either half- or full-bridge switch arrangements is carried out. Inthe presented experimental setup, it is demonstrated that by using an LCL circuit with specific component valuesand a full-bridge switch arrangement, magnifications of up to 15.7 may be reached. Further, by matching theswitching frequency with the frequency where the LCL and the battery resonate, for the same injected AC current,the current flowing in the semiconductors and the switching frequency could be reduced. This allowed a lossreduction in the semiconductors of up to 75%, when compared with an equivalent DC-DC converter enabled toproduce a non-magnified AC current.