How do you get the best life out of a lithium battery?

Lithium-ion batteries are used for high-powered devices and applications as they provide steady power in demand. They are found in phones, laptops, electric vehicles, and other devices. While lithium-ion batteries provide optimal battery power, optimizing the cell life ensures that the batteries can last for many years.

Lithium-ion technology continues to evolve to provide low self-discharge and high energy density greater than 0.46Mj/kg. While theoretically, a lithium-ion battery could last for 5 years or more with essentially 2,000-3,000 charging cycles, most manufacturers lower this range to roughly 300 to 500 charging cycles, or 2-3 years, due to the possible application for the battery pulling more power from the battery.

Other factors that impact a lithium-ion's lifespan include how the battery is taken care of and how it is stored. There are several ways to extend its use and prolong lithium-ion battery life.

Provide Ideal Battery Storage Conditions

Most customers may not plan to use the lithium-ion battery pack in the device immediately. Instead, the battery pack will be placed into the device when a product ordered becomes placed or installed into the device as the device will be packaged for the warehouse. In these cases, proper storage conditions greatly impact the battery life. If the battery is improperly stored, it may not provide its fullest capable capacity when placed into service.

Lithium-ion battery cells stored in climate-controlled room.

Lithium-ion batteries are greatly influenced by room temperatures. If stored in an excessively hot room, the battery can degrade faster than normal. Store the battery packs in a cool room of about 59° Fahrenheit, and they should be stored at their partial charge of about 40% or 50%.

Also, keep track of the humidity in the room. Moisture will reduce the cell's lifespan and performance. The ideal room environment should be a cool and dry location with ventilation. Never store the battery packs near sunlight as the heat from the sun's rays can raise the battery's temperatures.

Monitor Self-Discharge Rate

If you plan to have lithium-ion batteries in storage for long periods of time, the good news is that the self-discharge rate for lithium-ion batteries is low and steady. The battery will first go through an initial 5% discharge within a 24-hour period and then discharge at a rate of 1% to 2% each month. If the lithium-ion battery has a safety protection circuit, the monthly self-discharge rate increases up to 3% each month.

However, lithium-ion batteries should never be completely drained to 0% or go below 20%, roughly lower than its 2.50 volt/cell state. The use of battery management systems (BMS) can help you monitor the battery's state of charge as well as its temperature and other factors. If the battery is reaching low levels, you should charge it before placing the battery back into storage.

Proper Charging/Discharging During Use

Extreme overcharging and deep discharging cycles place high levels of stress on lithium-ion batteries. When it comes to overcharging, tree-like lithium dendrites (whiskers) will form on the negative electrodes. These whiskers can cause serious problems as they are highly explosive to lithium-ion batteries.

To prevent whiskers, a custom battery pack can be designed with a regulator that helps balance the different cell capacities in the battery pack. It can improve the state of charge levels throughout the pack to prevent overcharging of cells that have higher capacities than other cells in the pack. It will prevent the weakest cells from being overcharged as well as stop the cells from discharging when the lowest capacity cells are near the empty level.

To prolong battery life, consider doing partial charges up to 80% state of charge (SoC) instead of a 100% charge. If the lithium battery is going to reach 100% charge, make sure to take the device off power immediately once reaching that level. Also, ensure that you are charging the battery in a room that has a lower temperature. Room temperatures between 50° Fahrenheit to 95° Fahrenheit.

Depending on the device, operation, and available ventilation, the application should operate in temperatures from 32° Fahrenheit to 95° Fahrenheit. Higher temperatures will cause the battery to discharge quickly. If the device is hot and the lithium-ion battery is discharging faster than normal, you may want to adjust the device's operation. For example, a laptop may be extremely hot due to running high-powered applications, such as video games.

Be Careful with Fast Charging

Fast charging and ultra-fast charging allow lithium-ion batteries to reach full capacity in less time. Fast charging can be done with this battery cell chemistry yet should be reserved for lithium-ion batteries designed by manufacturers that can accept such a rapid charge. One of the dangers to fast and ultra-fast charging lies with plating that can occur on the anode of the battery. Also, lithium deposition, dendrite, along the negative electrode can happen at a rapid pace.

If fast charging a lithium-ion battery, which is common in the electric vehicle industry, the battery should be charged at a temperature of about 60° Fahrenheit. This temperature will allow the cell to receive an optimal 10-minute charge of up to 80% SoC. The fast charging should only happen up to the capacity reaching 70%, then the battery should have the charge current lowered for the remaining time. This method is considered step charging. In addition, the cells in the battery pack should be balanced.

Summary

Lithium-ion cell chemistries are highly reactive. They can become unstable if mishandled or improperly charged/discharged. They should be handled with care and not be punctured or damaged. Taking active steps in prolonging the life of the battery ensures that it will last for a long time. Extending lithium battery life helps provide optimal power for applications while also lowering the amount of waste created from damaged or degraded batteries.

Battery manufacturers will offer specific handling, charging, discharging, and storage specifications based on their manufactured product. Speaking with a battery pack manufacturer allows you to learn about the necessary steps in extending the battery's life based on the specific application to ensure the device receives optimal power while in full operation without experiencing a loss in battery capacity.

Long used in personal electronics, lithium-ion batteries are now revolutionizing the industrial and material handling equipment industries. 

Their fast-charging capabilities, long lifespan and ease of maintenance make them an attractive choice for companies that use forklifts, pallet jacks and other equipment in their operations. 

Lithium-ion battery packs require more investment up front than other rechargeable options, such as lead-acid batteries. However, used correctly, lithium-ion batteries offer many long-term benefits that make them less expensive over time. 

That’s why getting the most out of lithium-ion battery life is so important. 

Here are five steps you can take to maximize your lithium-ion battery life.

 1. Use Smart Battery Management

 Using a lithium-ion battery with a smart battery management system provides many benefits to the fleet. Tracked through onboard computers, fleet managers can connect to the cloud and send integral data to fleet personnel. This data includes health and usage of the battery. 

Lithium-ion batteries that feature resourceful battery system management tools also ensure lithium battery life lasts longer by: 

• Alerting employees when a lithium-ion battery is running low. This lets staff know a battery must be recharged to avoid damage to the battery and the warranty.
• Keeping track of all battery metrics. The battery system reports metrics wirelessly through local networks or through cellular to the cloud. This catches any potential problems before equipment downtime occurs.
• Tracking temperatures on the cells. This ensures they remain in safe charging and operating ranges.

2. Don’t Overcharge 

Overcharging a battery can instigate formation of dendrites which can hinder battery longevity. When it comes to charging lithium-ion batteries, more is not always better. 

To avoid overcharging and maximize life, ensure a lithium battery pack includes a battery regulator. This regulator, or balancer, ensures: 

• The individual cells remain balanced, since they may have different capacities or state of charge levels.
• Discharging stops when the cell that is experiencing the lowest capacity empties.
• The weakest or smallest cell will not be overcharged. If a battery does not have a battery regulator, a smaller cell can suffer damage when filling a high-capacity cell. 

Lithium-ion batteries that feature smart battery management systems should include active balancing features through a battery regulator.

3. Avoid Deep Cycling

 Deep discharges stress lithium-ion batteries. Partial charges, on the other hand, are safer and can prolong the life of a lithium battery. In fact, lithium battery packs have no memory effect, making partial charges possible. 

This is good news for companies that operate equipment in shifts. Crews are encouraged to charge lithium-ion batteries on an opportunity basis throughout the day. This can occur in between tasks or while on break, for example. 

It’s also important to always keep lithium-ion batteries at least partially charged. If batteries are reduced to low charges, circuits put in place for protection may turn off.

4. Avoid Extreme Temperatures

 Lithium-ion batteries are resilient and do not require as much maintenance, such as cooling-down periods. They also feature onboard heaters that control temperatures during cold weather applications. 

Nonetheless, lithium-ion batteries are still vulnerable to damage if stored or charged in improper temperatures. 

To extend the life of lithium-ion batteries: 

• Avoid extreme temperatures. State of health for lithium-ion batteries can decrease when exposed to extreme temperatures for extended periods of time. If a battery is intended to be used in cold weather applications, it is important that the battery has a heater that is controlled by the battery management system to prevent below-freezing charging.
• Follow manufacturer specifications. These will provide more exact parameters. Generally, it is safe to charge between 32° and 113° F and discharge between -40° and 131° F.
• Store at partial charge in a cool place. Batteries should have around a 40% to 50% state of charge when being stored. Batteries will slowly discharge even when turned off, check every few months and ensure the state of charge does not drop below 20%.

5. Ensure UL Listing

 Underwriter Laboratories (UL) products go through rigorous testing to ensure companies establish trustworthy products in the marketplace. Products that have been designated with a UL Listing must meet nationally-recognized safety standards. 

This gives the material handling industry confidence in the safety of the product. A UL-certification also ensures protective features are in place that enhance the quality and long-term use. These include: 

• A main power fuse
• Protective breaker
• Over-voltage protection
• Temperature protection
• Stable chemistry 

You can read more about why UL marks are important for lithium-ion batteries in industrial applications and walkie pallet jacks.

Bottom Line

Are lithium-ion batteries better? Lithium-ion batteries are transforming the material handling industry. They are an attractive choice for companies that want to increase efficiency and reduce costs in the long term. This is especially true when lithium-ion battery life is maximized. 

It is critical to ensure your fleet’s supply of lithium-ion packs have management tools that track metrics and are UL-Listed. Also important are the steps taken to properly charge and store these batteries. 

With these steps, lithium-ion batteries can experience a longer life and increase productivity in industrial and material handling equipment industries. That makes the switch to this technology an easy decision. 

You can read more about how counterbalance lift trucks hit max performance with lithium-ion batteries.