The Battery Basics: Understanding Lithium-Ion, Lead-Acid and More

Types of Electric Car Batteries

How do the batteries work?
So we know how batteries are used in almost all the appliances we use in our daily lives and vehicles. Energy is converted to electricity with the chemical energy stored in a battery. The battery consists of a negative electrode cell, which has a surplus of electrons that are negatively charged subatomic particles.

Electrons flow from the negative to the positive when an electrical cable connects the two. Companies today have come up with a way to use the energy created by these moving electrons to run a motor. Since the vehicle’s engine is powered by it, it must deliver enough current to the motor over some time.

Types of electric batteries
• Lithium-ion Battery
• The nickel-metal hydride battery
• Lead-Acid Battery
• The solid-state battery
• The nickel-cadmium battery

Lithium-ion Battery: This is the most widely used electric car battery. The lithium-ion battery was developed in the early 90s and gradually established itself as the leading technology in the transportation and consumer electronics industry. You might already be familiar with it because smaller versions are used in portable devices like mobile phones and laptops.

Nickel-Metal Hydride (NIMH) Battery: Another variant of electric cars is hybrid cars which contain both battery-powered and fuel-powered engines. These cars mainly use NIMH batteries but are also compatible with BEV cars. These kinds of batteries do not require any external power source to charge.

Lead-Acid Battery: SLA, or lead-acid, is one of the oldest rechargeable batteries. The lead-acid battery is still found in many vehicles, those with both combustion and electric engines. Compared to NIMH or lithium batteries, these are much heavier and eventually lose capacity. However, automobile companies still use it mainly because of its cheap pricing.

The solid-state battery: The principle behind it consists of replacing the battery’s liquid electrolyte with a solid material that can take the form of a plastic polymer, compacted inorganic powders, or a mixture of the two. In theory, this technology is all positive: it makes it possible to increase energy density and stability while making temperature control more manageable.

The nickel-cadmium battery: If you used rechargeable batteries in the 90s, you’re already familiar with nickel-cadmium technology. “Ni-Cd” accumulators had plenty of advantages, with significant storage density and a lifespan of around 500 to 1,000 charging cycles. However, they did suffer from the memory effect, a physical phenomenon that sees the battery’s performance decline if it is subject to partial “charge-drain” cycles.

---- Time Stamp ---
00:00 - Introduction
01:05 - Types of Electric Batteries
01:40 - How a Battery Works?
02:51 - Lithium-ion Battery
04:23 - Working of Lithium-ion Battery
06:32 - Types of Lithium-ion Batteries
06:48 - Advantages & Disadvantages of Li-ion Batteries
07:54 - Nickel-Metal Hydride Battery
10:16 - Lead-acid Battery
12:04 - Solid-state Battery
13:37 - Nickel-Cadmium Battery
14:37 - Wrap Up

All images used in this video are under a creative commons license.

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[apolldelacruz]

I think the solid-state battery is better than other...it is safe and non-toxic material used.

[elias]

I'm learning a lot about EVs nowadays, good to see this video on my recommendation!! You really did a nice job.

[rexmotivex]

Solid state 70 % with 30% Hybrid Nickel Metal Battery would be better. I'm working on it. Thanks for this such an information.

[aaACEa]

The Nickel-Metal Hydride for now, as my pick.
The solid-state battery shall be the most efficient when the most suitable electrolytic material found.

[jellyonaplate]

A very good and informative video. Thank you.
I'm a mechanic in Australia and there is a massive push for EV here. A little too fast for my liking as there is way more research to be done before the western world should purely adopt this method. I remember when used oils had to be "reclaimed" and the costs this created (although it did give rise for other industries, apositive) and the implementation of this reclaim/recycle decìsion actually created more issue's as the rule wasmade before the process was developed.
I'm not being a nay sayer, as I am researching and educating myself, knowing I may have to work on these vehicles in order to progress my trade and business.
I slow down and a bit of "what if" thinking should be applied because there willbe an immense amount of wste from these vehicles, soon and not just attrition waste. Accidents. Abandoned. Developmental disposals, etc.

[maccoolmac]

Today's EV cars and trucks are using Lithium based batteries. LMO batteries can be charged 300 to 700 times. Once the battery has a low charge rate, now what, a $26k battery replacement. The EV battery has a warranty of 8 years. I would like to see LiFePO4 batteries, that have 4x the life of lithium.

I still love lead acid battery. specially the simple one.

[tonytsui]

Could you talk about the Sodium Battery /

[perkins]

You didn't mention one of the advantages of the nickel metal hydride extremely lightweight I bought 2 D cells and they feel like they're empty they have good performance

[BekTesfa]

Given that the auto industry has been focusing on manufacturing gas powered engines and the battery powered vehicles are only starting to come to market, would you say that, with time, the battery industry will come up with a much efficient battery technology in the years ahead? Do you think the oil & gas industry will still try to hamper the progress of battery industry ?

[trent]

Solid state would be the best EV option. I guess that's why Toyota is going to use it.

[vergeljurimocha]

I used the LITTIUM battery in my solar set up, it takes a long time to run out, it will break, unlike lead acid, it breaks immediately, especially when it is over discharged

[motivationalintellectualin]

In video anode -ve but on Google anode is +ve.

[ChristCall]

solid-state battery is the best although it is still under research
It will change everything the way SSD did to computer technologies

[zingaferd]

What I'm curious about is why I only get about 10% of what I should out of my watch batteries. I've had several watches over the years, when wearing an analog watch I get about a month out of it when I should get a year, and a year out of a digital where I should get a decade. This isn't the first time I've tried to look into the possible reasons behind this, so far i have only found the suggestion that this could be caused by a watch that waist to much battery, if this was true I wouldn't see the same situation throughout all of the different watch brands and types I've had. And looking into this has only become more difficult in recent years due to the every increasing popularity of smart matches, so most sites and videos I come across are about fixing smart watches that are eating though their battery.

Additionally these watches I only get 10% of the battery life I should while whearing them, last the length of time they shpuld when left sitting in a drawer.

[DulhanSetWale]

A person brings the e-bike battery into the lift. When the lift closes, the electro-charge of the battery turns the whole lift into a magnetic battery.
Becareful and share with family and friends !!
I just received a video of a man dying with battery in lift
Can you please explain is it true??

[plstnvi]

I think so solid-state battery and lithium ion battery are the best

[ddurgeshhh]

Waiting for video on recently trending battery technology 'sodium ion battery'

[ericroberts]

What about the lithium fire problem ? I notice you dont mention this problem ?

[mohanpedia]

H2O(H+&OH-) batteries are best and eco-friendly.