GE researchers are teaming up with Ford Motor Company and the University of Michigan to extend the battery life of Electric Vehicles.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy will develop a smart, miniaturized sensing system that has the potential to significantly extend the life of car batteries over conventional battery systems used in electric vehicles today.

"The car battery remains the greatest barrier and most promising opportunity to bringing EVs mainstream." said Aaron Knobloch, principal investigator and mechanical engineer at GE Global Research. "Improvements in the range, cost and life of the battery will all be needed for EVs to be competitive. With better sensors and new battery analytics, we think we can make substantial progress at increasing battery life. This, in turn, could help bring down its overall cost and the cost entitlement of buying an electric car."

According to the press release, today's sensors on EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles measure the health of the battery by looking at factors such as its temperature, voltage, and current. However, these measurements provide a limited understanding of a battery's operation and health. Hence, ARPA-E project will develop small, cost effective sensors with new measurement capabilities.

Due to their small size, these sensors will be placed in areas of the battery where existing sensor technologies cannot be currently located. The combination of small size and ability to measure new quantities will enable a much better understanding of battery performance and life.

A group of scientists from the University of Michigan, led by Anna Stefanopoulou, a professor of mechanical engineering, will use the data generated by GE sensors to verify advanced battery models. They will ultimately create schemes that use instantaneous sensor data to predict future battery-cell and battery-pack behavior.

"The big challenge is to make battery management programs adapt and work fast," said Charles Monroe, a chemical engineering professor on the University of Michigan team.

The goal of this three-year $3.1 million program is to demonstrate a working sensing system in an actual electric vehicle.