How the utilised SOC window in commercial Li-ion pouch cells influence battery ageing

In many lithium-ion battery (LIB) applications, e.g. hybrid vehicles and load-levelling storage systems, only part of the state-of-charge (SOC) range needs to be utilised. This offers the possibility to use an optimal SOC window to avoid LIB ageing. Here, a large test matrix is designed to study LIB ageing in a commercial 26 Ah pouch cell, in order to map the ageing behaviour at different SOC levels with respect to temperature and current. A quantification of the degradation modes, loss of lithium inventory (LLI), loss of active positive (LAM(PE)) and negative (LAM(NE)) electrode materials is made by analysing the change in the open circuit voltage (OCV). A key result is that lower SOC intervals significantly improved battery ageing. Even during harsh test conditions, such as high Crates and temperatures, the cells deliver more than three times the expected number of full cycle equivalents. High SOC combined with high C-rate increase ageing where the dominating ageing mechanisms are LLI, followed by LAM(PE).