Advanced design of valve-regulated lead-acid battery for hybrid electric vehicles

A novel design of lead-acid battery has been developed for use in hybrid el ectric vehicles (HEVs). The battery has current take-offs at both ends of e ach of the positive and negative plates. This feature markedly reduces batt ery operating temperatures, improves battery capacity, and extends cycle-li fe under HEV duty. The battery also performs well under partial-state-of-ch arge (PSoC)/fast-charge, electric-vehicle operation. The improvements in pe rformance are attributed to more uniform utilization of the plate active-ma terials. The battery, combined with an internal-combustion engine and a new type of supercapacitor, will be used to power an HEV, which is being desig ned and constructed by an Australian industry-government consortium. (C) 20 00 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.