Comparison of High-Energy Density and High-Power Density Batteries for an Electric Vehicle

Traditionally, battery cells used for electric vehicles are designed to have a high-energy density. This paper studies the use of a high-power density battery for an electric vehicle, which results in lower losses but a higher battery weight compared with the use of a high-energy density battery. The two batteries are compared with power Hardware-In-the-Loop tests for a Nissan Leaf. The experimental results show that energy consumption is slightly lower for the high-power battery despite an increase in the total mass. The improvement in energy consumption is up to 4.5% for high-speed driving cycles despite an increase of 103 kg for the vehicle weight. Moreover, the fast-charging time is divided by 2 with the high-power battery due to lower self-heating.