The Temperature’s Falling While the UAM Market Is Heating Up

At the heart of the impending urban air mobility (UAM) revolution are the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that will rise to the occasion to transport people and products from Point A to Point B. At the heart of those eVTOLs are the lithium-ion batteries powering their flight.

Lithium-ion batteries, however, have an aversion to cold temperatures. Their performance is degraded, including decreased power output and diminished energy capacity. One proposed solution is to preheat the batteries. But then, the question arises: How much energy is expended to preheat the batteries compared to the energy gain? To address the challenge, a trio of researchers from the Department of Electronic Engineering, The Korea National University of Transportation, Republic of Korea proposed a temperature management scheme to maximize the energy gain from preflight through to landing.

Seon-Wong Kim, Do-Hun Kwon, and In-ho Cho studied the variables and concluded that the lithium-ion battery’s energy gain remains positive up to 22 °C. However, from 22 °C onwards, the lithium-ion battery’s temperature change is minimal due to heat loss. At 22.5 °C, the energy recovered by the lithium-ion battery and the energy consumed for preheating become nearly equal. After 22.5 °C, when the temperature reaches 23 °C, the lithium-ion battery’s energy gain becomes negative. In conclusion, based on the experimental results, heating the lithium-ion battery up to 22.5 °C would be the most efficient strategy to maximize energy capacity gain while maintaining positive energy balance.

Top 3 Takeaways

Keywords: #AAM Today, #AAM, #advanced air mobility, #urban air mobility, #UAM, #lithium-ion battery, #internal resistance, #low temperature, #preheating, #energy gain