Batteries are everywhere: from handheld consumer devices to grid storage and electric vehicles (EVs). They’re helping manage the hundreds of thousands of TeraWatt hours (TWh) worth of energy consumed globally every year.

But with use comes wear….as a battery ages the available energy it can store drops. Imagine a petrol car with a 60L tank that reduces to 50L, then 40L, then 20L … You’re filling up but not getting as far. Welcome, to EV range anxiety.

Unfortunately, monitoring this drop in tank size over time is difficult. In an EV you could drive a set course every day in perfect conditions with perfect weather until you run your battery out. But what about when you don’t want to deplete the battery? Like in a backup power environment?

The University of Waikato’s Prof. Jonathan Scott has developed a new tool designed to predict the changing capacity of a battery over time, and thus also the effective remaining lifetime of a battery. The new method is much more sensitive than existing techniques. Our technology is underpinned by new approaches to battery testing no one else has achieved before, coupled with new models of battery behaviour no one else has previously discovered.

We’re currently commercialising this under the brand eisgage [pronounced ice-gauge]

We’re partnering with battery makers, power component suppliers, and end users.

For more information, contact Commercialisation Specialist Anna Henning at ahenning@waikatolink.co.nz