Improving 18650 Li-Ion Battery Cell Casing Design for Increasing Preconditioning Efficiency

The following paper aims to improve the casing of the standard 18650 Li-Ion battery cells in order to improve their preconditioning efficiency.The goal is to optimize the casing structure by adding additional surface area, with the aid of which these cells can reach their optimal charge/discharge temperature at a faster pace.This would result in less power consumed by the preconditioning (heating) circuit, which in turn would lead to better electric vehicle (EV) ranges and prolonged battery life.A series of different strategies are explored using FEM simulations and conclusions are drawn based on these, with the optimal casing configuration identified in the end.The research presented in this paper can help Li-Ion and EV manufacturers optimize their cells and setups for ideal battery preconditioning.