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Memory Effect Discovered In Lithium-Ion Batteries

Posted by samzenpus on from the a-little-less dept.

rwise2112 writes "Lithium-ion batteries have long been thought to be free of the memory effects of other rechargeable batteries. However, this appears to be not the case. Scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, together with colleagues from the Toyota Research Laboratories in Japan have now discovered that a widely-used type of lithium-ion battery has a memory effect."

2 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Small effect big consequences by geoskd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The question is: how big is the effect. Even a small effect will cause significant distortions in battery metering, but if the effect is large enough, it will cause the batteries not to last any where near as many cycles as originally believed. This could really suck for electric car owners. Any '07 Roadster owners out there care to share how well the batteries are holding up?

    -=Geoskd

    --
    I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
    1. Re:Small effect big consequences by jeffmeden · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The question is: how big is the effect. Even a small effect will cause significant distortions in battery metering, but if the effect is large enough, it will cause the batteries not to last any where near as many cycles as originally believed. This could really suck for electric car owners. Any '07 Roadster owners out there care to share how well the batteries are holding up?

      -=Geoskd

      According to what I could read of TFA without paying $32, the memory effect is actually seen just during discharge, as a function of distorting the voltage vs w/hr capacity. The overall w/hr capacity of the battery is not reduced, but the ability to exactly determine SOC is diminished at mid voltage levels.

      I am not a chemist, so input from someone with more insight on the exact study would be appreciated.