{"id":61636,"date":"2024-10-25T06:24:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T10:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/?p=61636"},"modified":"2026-03-26T06:38:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:38:44","slug":"battery-aging-simulation-3d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/battery-aging-simulation-3d\/","title":{"rendered":"Until we have a magic cream against battery aging, simulation software will do the trick!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aging affects most things on earth – except Tom Cruise of course – and batteries are no exception from that phenomenon. Batteries are “living” things, species flow back and forth between 2 electrodes, there are chemical reactions and even mechanical changes, such as a “breathing” effect (expansion and contraction of electrodes due to intercalation and de-intercalation of Lithium during charge\/discharge cycles). Simply they are being operated, which creates wear and tear naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can’t stop aging: EV fleets will grow older (and with them their batteries)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

However, when people are considering ownership of an electric car, the number one criterion for them is range, then price and charging logistics (infrastructure and charging time). Battery life? Only comes at the 6th position<\/a>. As of today, this may not surprisingly ranked low, considering most electric vehicles are bought brand-new and aging seems a rather technical topic with a large variety of potential battery life evolutions depending on one\u2019s EV usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But as EV fleets will grow older (and with them their batteries), second-hand markets start to grow, and suddenly for good reselling prices, battery life and health will surely rise in their (anticipated) importance. Likewise, recycling battery cells that have reached their end of life is still a very cost and energy intense exercise. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

And so ultimately, longer lasting, thereby more sustainable battery cells, already are a competitive factor for those designing and selling electric vehicles and battery packs. Therefore, the time is now for OEMs and battery manufacturers to understand battery aging and come up with cell designs for maximum lifespan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The toxic ingredients to battery cell aging<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, what triggers and affects aging? Batteries aging takes its root causes in several factors. First of all, not a surprise, time: Whether the cell is being used or whether it stays idle, time is at work to let some internal side chemical reaction induce some performance degradation. Second is temperature: Temperature has a significant impact on the process of battery life degradation. High temperature storage and usage (high band of the safe temperature limits) would accelerate aging. Low temperatures are better, but combined with fast charge and it is recipes for other degradation effects. This leads to the third main criterion, the current applied to the cell. Basically, referring to what type of load is applied to the battery. If it is used gently with smooth and low power demands, the current applied to the cell will be gentle and will only slowly affect the aging. However, if the battery is used more aggressively, with more frequent fast charging, particularly in low temperatures conditions, then accelerated degradation mode is on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A deeper look into battery cell degradation mechanisms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What happens within the battery due to these effects is a combination of several degradation mechanisms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n