As days passed, Tesla hit the headlines for its achievements. Although, the celebration is worth it. Almost a year into a new research partnership with Tesla, battery researcher Jeff Dahn has been hitting the talk circuit, presenting some of his team’s recent progress.
Along with Tesla, his team created cells capable of doubling the company’s battery lifetime—this milestone they had not expected to hit for another four years. The scientist unveiled their latest research on a new chemistry during a Q&A session following a recent talk at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He said, “the target was first set during a funding request to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).”
“I wrote down the goal of doubling the lifetime of the cells used in the Tesla products at the same upper cutoff voltage. We exceeded that in round one. That was the goal of the project, and it has already been exceeded.”
He explained, how they invented a way to test battery cells to accurately monitor them during charging and discharging to identify causes for degradation.
They had developed a machine that enabled them to test new chemistries more accurately and much faster. This results in significant discoveries on the longevity of cells.
Next, he explained how their new testing methods led them to discover a specific aluminum coating that could withstand an arduous machine testing process.
After integration, Dahn believes these batteries will no doubt be a huge incentive for anyone thinking about buying a Tesla product.
The battery cells also increase the return on investment of Tesla’s residential and commercial energy products, the Powerwall and Powerpack. However, the research focused on the nickel manganese cobalt oxide cells used in power packs to store electricity in the home.
Dahn said, “The most exciting is the fact that we still have four years of research ahead of it. We are not going to stop — obviously — we have another four years to go. We are going to go as far as we can.”
