Journal of Energy Storage 86 (2024) 111228

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Journal of Energy Storage

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Research papers

Study of the effects of preheating on discharge characteristics and capacity

benefit of Li-ion batteries in the cold
Zhongbo Zhang a, Zhiqiang Chen a, Wenbo Zhu a, Haibing Li a, Caihang Liao a, Qin Liu a,
Junwei Hou b, Wei Yu a, *, Yongkuan Li a
a
School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Foshan University, Foshan 528225, China
b
College of Automobile and Engineering Machinery, Guangdong Communication Polytechnic, Guangzhou 510650, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The Li-ion battery’s sharp performance decline in the cold restricts the use of electric vehicles. Preheating is a
Li-ion battery crucial strategy for addressing the issue. The available energy released by the battery should be more of a
Low temperature concern in the current preheating method studies. The capacity benefit upon preheating is investigated in the
Preheating
study while the battery is being discharged at low temperatures. The battery was preheated by a heating film at
Capacity benefit
− 25 ◦ C and discharged with varying preheating durations. The effects of preheating on discharge characteristics
and capacity benefits were analyzed. The findings indicate that the inner temperature can better reflect the
battery’s preheating state. Preheating can solve the problem that the battery cannot discharge in the cold by
improving the terminal voltage. The capacity benefit of the battery does not change monotonically with the
preheating time. For 2.0C discharge cases, the maximum capacity benefit of the battery is obtained with 3 min
preheating, which is higher by 6.8 % and 15.1 % than that with 1 and 5 min preheating, respectively. There is no
need for the battery to be preheated, or only a short preheating time is needed, if the battery can discharge with a
small current.

1. Introduction and it is separated into two types: self-heating technology and current
excitation technology [13]. Self-heating technology uses the battery’s
One of the main contributors to the energy problem and worldwide energy to heat itself and frequently necessitates structural changes to the
environmental degradation is the use of conventional internal combus­ battery. Wang et al. [14–16] presented a new Li-ion battery construc­
tion engine automobiles [1]. One key strategy for addressing those is­ tion. Metal foils are inserted into the battery to generate internal heating
sues is the widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs) [2,3]. The battery is at low temperatures and to provide fast heat transfer to the electrodes
the essential element of an EV, and its performance directly affects the and electrolyte. The self-heating function is activated by turning off the
EV’s performance [4,5]. The Li-ion battery is the primary type of battery switch between the activation terminal (which is attached to the metal
used in EVs because of its high energy density, long cycle life, and foil) and the negative terminal. The battery can be heated from − 20 ◦ C
environmental friendliness [6–8]. The Li-ion battery’s performance is, to 0 ◦ C in 12.5 s, according to the data. Zhang et al. [17] presented a new
however, quite temperature-sensitive. The Li-ion battery’s poor perfor­ Li-ion battery structure with an interior cooling/heating structure to
mance in the cold, together with its capacity and cycle life degradation, improve its heat dissipation and low-temperature performance. The
among other issues, directly restrict the usage and promotion of EVs in testing results reveal that employing 3.70 W heating power increases the
cold regions [9,10]. battery discharge capacity by 46.0 % at − 20 ◦ C. It appears that self-
The application of the Li-ion battery in low-temperature situations heating technology is an efficient and quick heating solution for the
can be solved by preheating [11]. According to the patterns of energy or battery in cold weather. However, because the process necessitates
heat transfer during heating, preheating techniques are primarily structural changes to the battery, it will increase structural complexity,
separated into internal and external preheating [12]. reduce safety performance, and raise the production cost. For current
Internal preheating is the process of heating the battery from within, excitation technology, an applied current excitation is normally

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (W. Yu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2024.111228
Received 6 October 2023; Received in revised form 24 January 2024; Accepted 5 March 2024
Available online 11 March 2024
2352-152X/© 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Z. Zhang et al. Journal of Energy Storage 86 (2024) 111228

required, which generates heat through the internal impedance of the uneven battery temperature.
battery, thus heating the battery. The current excitation technique For the current preheating methods of the Li-ion battery in the cold,
consists mostly of direct current (DC) excitation, alternating current whether it is internal preheating or external preheating, most of the
(AC), and pulse current excitation. The DC excitation preheating method methods only consider capacity consumption and heating time and do
involves heating the battery with a continuous DC current. At the not specifically quantify the released available energy (or capacity
moment, the main form of the technology is that the Li-ion battery heats benefit) after heating. The capacity benefit of the battery should be more
itself by discharging, because external DC stimulation causes significant of a concern, which is the difference between the release energy of the
lithium precipitation in the Li-ion battery. Ruan et al. [18] investigated battery and the consumption energy of preheating. In the study, the
the reduction of the Li-ion battery’s lifetime under DC discharge heating capacity benefit after heating is experimentally investigated during the
and provided an effective internal-heating technique. The battery is discharge process of the battery at low temperatures. Firstly, the heating
heated from − 30 ◦ C to 2.1 ◦ C in 103 s, and the capacity loss is 1.4 % after process of the Li-ion battery by heating film is analyzed theoretically.
500 heated cycles. AC excitation preheating generates heat through the Then, the temperature characteristics of the battery without working,
internal impedance of the battery by applying an AC with a pre­ especially the inner temperature, are researched by heating in order to
determined frequency and amplitude to the battery’s electrodes. Hu select a suitable heating power for the heating film. Finally, with
et al. [19] and Shang et al. [20] investigated the thermal properties of a different heating times, the Li-ion battery is preheated by the heating
Li-ion battery during high-frequency AC excitation in cold conditions. film at − 25 ◦ C and discharged, and the effects of preheating on terminal
The experimental results demonstrated that increasing the AC heating voltage, discharge capacity, discharge temperature, heating energy
frequency while maintaining the same root mean square current can consumption, and capacity benefit are analyzed.
significantly enhance heating speed and efficiency. Pulse current exci­
tation approaches create heat through the internal impedance of the 2. Methodology
battery by using a discontinuous constant current signal [21]. Cai et al.
[22] proposed a cold-weather bidirectional pulse current excitation 2.1. Battery preheating
heating method for Li-ion batteries. According to the findings, the bat­
tery can be warmed up from − 10 ◦ C to 0 ◦ C in around 120 s. Wu et al. In this subsection, the heating process of the Li-ion battery by heating
[23,24] suggested a variable-frequency pulse preheating approach for film is theoretically analyzed. For the Li-ion battery preheating with a
the Li-ion battery in cold conditions. The study found that the best heating film, according to the law of energy conservation, Eq. (1) can be
variable-frequency pulse preheating approach can heat the Li-ion bat­ obtained,
tery from − 20 ◦ C to 5 ◦ C in 308 s. In general, regardless of the type of
current excitation utilized, additional power or charge piles are always Qh = Qb + Q′b + Q′h (1)
required to collaborate in creating excitation current. Furthermore, the
where Qh is the heating heat of heating film; Qb is the absorbed heat of
existing excitation equipment for the EV is enormous and expensive. As
a result, the approach most commonly employed for preheating the the battery; Q′b is the heat loss from the battery; Q′h is the heat loss from
battery before charging. Furthermore, if the current is bidirectional, the heating film.
current excitation will quickly lead to battery aging because the For the heating heat of heating film Qh , it can be expressed as Eq. (2),
charging process will surely result in lithium precipitation in the cold. Qh = Pt (2)
External heating refers to heating the battery from the outside using
various heat transmission methods. External heating might provide where P is the power of heating film; t is the heating time.
greater flexibility. It can be utilized at various stages of battery operation Since the heating film is in close contact with the battery surface, the
(such as charge, discharge, etc.) to achieve preheating, synchronous absorbed heat of the battery from the heating film is mainly through
heating, and so on. Furthermore, the equipment necessary for external heat conduction. Therefore, the absorbed heat of the battery from the
heating is basic, inexpensive, and simple to install. As a result, external heating film Qb can be expressed as Eq. (3) [30],
heating is currently the most popular heating technology on EVs.
ΔT
External heating is classified into two types: convection preheating and Qb = λAV t = mcp (Tb − T0 ) (3)
x
conduction preheating [25]. Convection preheating heats the battery
from the outside using hot fluids, such as air and liquid. Because con­ where λ is the heat conductivity coefficient; AV is the area perpendicular
vection preheating is similar to convection heat dissipation, it is to the direction of heat flow; ΔT
x is the temperature gradient in the normal
frequently incorporated into cooling systems [26]. Zhang et al. [27]
direction of the battery isothermal surface; m is the battery mass; cp is
evaluated liquid preheating performance for cold-weather battery
the battery specific heat; Tb is the battery average temperature after
thermal control of EVs. The results showed that the higher the heat
preheating; T0 is the battery average initial temperature, which can be
transfer fluid temperature, the greater the temperature differential be­
considered as the ambient temperature Ta .
tween the battery packs. Chen et al. [28] investigated a double-direction
Because the battery has exposed parts (such as positive and negative
liquid heating system using a multi-objective optimization design
anodes), there is heat loss from the battery, which can be expressed as
method. The fluid medium must be heated first for convection pre­
Eq. (4),
heating, and then the battery can be heated by the fluid medium. The
method has limitations such as low heating efficiency, a long heating Q′b = αb Ab (Ts − Ta )t (4)
time, and poor heating uniformity. Conduction preheating is a process in
which heat sources are attached to the surface of the battery and directly where αb is the convective heat transfer coefficient of the battery; Ab is
exchange heat with it. A common conduction preheating method is the convection heat transfer area of the battery; Ts is the average battery
heating film. Yang et al. [25] investigated the preheating performance of shell temperature; Ta is the ambient temperature.
heating film for the safe use of the Li-ion battery in cold conditions. The Since there is no insulation material outside the heating film, the
experiment revealed that heating film power of 1, 3, and 5 W heats the heating film will carry out convection heat transfer with the environ­
battery from − 10 ◦ C to 25 ◦ C in 395, 190, and 126 s, respectively. Zhang ment. The heat loss from the heating film Q′h can be expressed as Eq. (5),
et al. [29] investigated a cold preheating approach for Li-ion batteries
employing phase change materials paired with a heat sheet. The heating Q′h = αh Ah (Th − Ta )t (5)
film preheating method is more efficient and has a simpler structure
than air or liquid preheating. However, the heating film causes an where αh is convective heat transfer coefficient of the heating film; Ah is

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Z. Zhang et al. Journal of Energy Storage 86 (2024) 111228

convection heat transfer area of the heating film; Th is the outside sur­
K type
face temperature of the heating film.
thermocouple
According to Eqs. (1)–(5), the preheating rate and efficiency (or
heating costs) of the battery are mainly determined by the power of the
Surface temperature
heating film and the heat loss. When the preheating time is fixed, the
battery’s temperature rise rate can be improved by raising the power of measuring point
the heating film, but it will also raise the heating energy consumption
and increase the temperature gradient of the battery. The purpose of
preheating is to make the battery release as much available energy as
possible without compromising battery life. The released available en­
ergy (or capacity benefit) of the battery Qbe is the difference between the
Heating film
release energy of the battery and the consumption energy of preheating,
which can be expressed as the following Eq. (6),
Fig. 1. Experimental battery with a heating film.
Qbe = Qdisc − Qh (6)

where Qdisc is the discharge capacity of the battery after preheating.

Surface Inner Surface K type
From Eq. (6), to obtain optimal capacity benefit from the battery, it temperature temperature thermocouple
should be used with the minimum preheating heat to obtain the measuring point measuring point
maximum discharge capacity. However, the battery’s discharge capacity
does not increase with the increase in preheating rate or temperature in
the cold. Therefore, the relationship between capacity benefit and pre­
heating temperature and preheating heat should be more of a concern in Heating film Inner K type
thermocouple
a preheating method.
Fig. 2. Sample battery with an internal thermocouple.
2.2. Experimental battery
used for research on the heating temperature characteristics of the
In the study, the Panasonic 18650 BD NCR battery was used as the
battery without working.
experimental battery. Specifications of the battery are presented in
Table 1. The battery is widely used in commercial applications. The
2.3. Experimental system
experimental battery with a heating film is shown in Fig. 1. A polyimide
heating film is used to preheat the battery, which is commonly applied in
As illustrated in Fig. 3, the experimental system consists primarily of
external battery heating mode. A K-type thermocouple is placed be­
Neware CT-4004-20V30A-NFA battery-integrated test equipment, an
tween the heating film and the battery surface and is used to obtain the
XSZN JHY-H-80 L climate chamber, a Keithley DAQ 6510/7708 module
surface temperature of the battery. In the study, three batteries from the
temperature acquisition instrument, a UNI-T GPS305D adjustable direct
same batch were selected for different heating processes to speed up the
current (DC) power supply, a computer, and other components. The
experiment by conducting several cases simultaneously. These batteries
experimental battery’s temperature is measured using a K-type ther­
have been verified for consistency to ensure that their performance can
mocouple with a measurement range of − 200 to 260 ◦ C. The battery-
be compared. In other words, through consistency verification, the three
integrated test equipment is used to analyze the experimental bat­
batteries can be regarded as the same battery. Besides, the SOC of the
tery’s charge and discharge parameters. The battery-integrated test
battery while conducting the low-temperature heating discharge
equipment’s measured voltage and current accuracies are 1 mV and 1
experiment was 100 %.
mA, respectively. The climate chamber is used to maintain a constant
To select a suitable heating power for the heating film, the temper­
temperature. The climate chamber has a temperature control range of
ature characteristics of the battery without working, especially the inner
− 60 to 150 ◦ C, with a temperature control deviation of less than 2 ◦ C and
temperature, are researched by heating. Compared with the surface
a temperature fluctuation of less than 0.5 ◦ C. During the normal and
temperature widely used in current research, the inner temperature can
low-temperature trials, the climate room was kept at 25 ◦ C and − 25 ◦ C,
better reflect the preheating state of the battery. The temperature dif­
respectively. Two adjustable DC powers are used to power heating films
ference between the inner and the surface can reflect the temperature
in the experiment of low-temperature performance of the battery with
gradient of the battery, which is an important cause of battery aging
[31,32]. To obtain the inner temperature, a sample battery with an in­
ternal thermocouple was prepared, as shown in Fig. 2. The internal
thermocouple was inserted into the battery by drilling a small hole in the
negative pole, and the gap between the thermocouple and the hole was
sealed with inorganic adhesive. In the study, the sample battery is only
Temperature
Table 1 acquisition instrument
DC Power
Specifications of 18,650 BD NCR battery. Computer

Items Specifications

Rated capacity 3000 mAh

Minimum capacity 3080 mAh Battery test
Climate chamber
Typical capacity 3180 mAh equipment
Nominal voltage 3.6 V
Charging/discharging cut-off voltage 4.2 V/2.7 V
Weight 49.5 g
Standard charging current 0.3C
Temperature Charge: 10 to +45 ◦ C
Discharge: − 20 to +60 ◦ C
Fig. 3. Experimental system.

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Z. Zhang et al. Journal of Energy Storage 86 (2024) 111228

preheating. The DC power’s output voltage and current ranges are 0–30
V and 0–5 A, respectively. All experimental data is collected using a
computer.

2.4. Uncertainty analysis

Table 2 shows the detailed specifications and uncertainties of the

instruments utilized in the experimental setup. According to the table,
the uncertainties of the temperature acquisition device and the K-type
thermocouple are 0.3 % and 0.75 %, respectively. As a result, the
observed temperature has an uncertainty of 0.81 %. The estimated pa­
rameters’ uncertainty levels are connected to the measured ones, which
can be calculated using Eq. (7) [17],
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
n ( )
∑ ∂y 2 2
uP (y) = uP (xi ), y = f (x1 , x2 , …, xn ) (7)
i=1
∂xi

where y is the calculated parameter; x is the measured parameter; uP is

the uncertainty. The DC power supply’s voltage and current un­
certainties are 0.5 % and 0.2 %, respectively. As a result of Eq. (7), the
heating power uncertainty is 0.14 %. To ensure the experiment’s accu­
racy, all instruments were meticulously calibrated prior to the
experiment.

3. Result and discussion

In this section, first, without working, the battery’s temperature

characteristics with heating are researched to select a suitable heating
power for the heating film. Next, the charge/discharge characteristics of
the experimental batteries at normal temperature are studied and
compared to guarantee that those batteries have good performance and
that there is good consistency between them. Finally, the discharge
characteristics of those batteries at low temperatures are studied under
different preheating times and operating conditions.

3.1. Heating temperature characteristics of the battery without working

The selection of a suitable heating power is very important for the

battery’s preheating. A suitable heating power can increase the battery
temperature quickly, has appropriate energy consumption, and leads to Fig. 4. Temperature characteristics of the battery by heating without working.
a reasonable temperature gradient in the battery. Based on the sample
battery with an internal thermocouple (as shown in Fig. 2), without between the inside and the outside of the battery. When the surface
working (charging or discharging), the heating temperature character­ temperature is high enough, the inner temperature of the battery is still
istics of the battery under different heating powers are studied at below 0 ◦ C. Moreover, the higher the heating power, the greater the
− 25 ◦ C, as shown in Fig. 4. From the figure, with heating, the battery temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the bat­
surface temperature increases first quickly and then slowly. This is tery. As a result, a large temperature gradient in the battery will be
because the surface thermocouple is located between the heating film caused by a large heating power. It is very important to select a suitable
and the battery. The heating film temperature is measured first by the heating power for the battery’s preheating. Besides, just monitoring the
surface thermocouple. Compared with the surface temperature, the in­ surface temperature cannot reflect the battery’s entire temperature state
crease in the inner temperature has hysteresis. This is due to the fact that or the preheating degree of the battery.
the transfer of heating energy from the surface to the interior takes time. Without working, the consumed heating energy and temperature
Besides, the increase in the inner temperature is approximately linear. characteristics of the battery by heating at some moments are provided,
From Fig. 4 (b), with heating, there is a large temperature difference as shown in Table 3. With 7 W heating power, the inner temperature of
the battery is increased from − 25 ◦ C to 0 ◦ C in 248 s. At the moment, the
Table 2 surface temperature is 13.39 ◦ C. In the process, the consumed heating
Specifications and uncertainties of instruments in the experiments. energy is 2100 J. Besides, with 9 W heating power, the surface and inner
Instruments Manufacture Model Uncertainties temperatures of the battery are increased from − 25 ◦ C to 18.52 ◦ C and
Battery integrated Neware CT-4004- Voltage: 0.1 %
0 ◦ C in 179 s heating time, respectively. The consumed heating energy is
testing equipment 20V30A-NFA Current: 0.1 % 1620 J. Moreover, with 13 W heating power, the inner temperature of
Temperature Keithley DAQ 6510/ ±1 ◦ C the battery can be heated up from − 25 ◦ C to 0 ◦ C in 120 s. The heating
acquisition 7708 module energy consumption is 1560 J. However, the temperature difference
instrument
between the surface and the inner is up to 28.46 ◦ C at the moment.
K-type thermocouple Omega TT-K-30-SLE 0.75 %
DC power supply UNI-T GPS305D Voltage: 0.5 % Therefore, low heating power leads to a long heating time and a large
Current: 0.2 % consumption of heating energy, and high heating power causes a large
Climate chamber XSZN JHY-H-80 L ±2 ◦ C temperature gradient in the battery. From Fig. 4 and Table 3, in the

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Z. Zhang et al. Journal of Energy Storage 86 (2024) 111228

Table 3
Consumed heating energy and temperature characteristics of the battery by heating.
Heating power Heating time Consumed heating energy Surface temperature Inner temperature Temperature difference between surface and inner
(W) (s) (J) (◦ C) (◦ C) (◦ C)

7 60 420 1.01 − 15.76 16.77

180 1260 9.78 − 4.39 14.17
248 1736 13.39 0 13.39
300 2100 15.36 2.67 12.69
9 60 540 6.94 − 15.41 22.35
179 1611 18.52 0 18.52
180 1620 18.56 0.07 18.49
300 2700 26.33 9.71 16.62
13 60 780 19.32 − 12.18 31.5
120 1560 28.46 0 28.46
180 2340 35.51 9.26 26.25
300 3900 45.72 22.58 23.14

study, 9 W heating power is chosen as a suitable heating power for the

research of the effects of preheating on the discharge characteristics of
the Li-ion battery at low temperatures.

3.2. Charge/discharge characteristics of the batteries at normal

temperature

In the study, three batteries from the same batch were selected for
different heating processes to speed up the experiment. The three bat­
teries were named battery 1, battery 2, and battery 3, respectively. As
shown in Fig. 5, the charge/discharge characteristics of the experi­
mental batteries at normal temperature are investigated and compared
to guarantee that those batteries have good performance and that there
is good consistency between them. It can be seen that, under different
charge/discharge conditions, the capacity-voltage curves of those bat­
teries are all in good agreement. At 0.3C and 0.5C charge conditions, the
charge capacity differences between those batteries are less than 1 %
and 0.6 %, respectively. At 0.5C, 1.0C, and 1.5C discharge conditions,
the discharge capacity differences between those batteries are less than
1 %, 0.7 %, and 1 %, respectively. In general, the charge/discharge
capacity differences between those batteries are all less than 1 %.
Therefore, there is good consistency between those batteries. Thus, the
low-temperature performance of those experimental batteries with
different preheating programs at the same operating conditions can be
compared, and the experiment process can be accelerated.

3.3. Discharge characteristics of the battery without preheating in the cold

The discharge performance of the battery is very important for the

electric vehicle (EV) at low temperatures. In the cold, the deterioration
of the battery’s performance, such as inability to discharge, discharge
capacity decrease, etc., is a key bottleneck for the widespread use of the
EV at present. The discharge characteristics of the experimental battery
at a low temperature (− 25 ◦ C) without preheating are shown in Fig. 6.
The figure illustrates that only at a discharge current of 0.5C can the
battery discharge at − 25 ◦ C. This is because the internal resistance of the
battery is significantly increased in the cold. The rise in the discharge
rate leads to a decrease in the terminal voltage of the battery. When the
terminal voltage is lower than the discharge end-off voltage, the battery
discharge is stopped. At 0.5C, 1.0C, 1.5C, and 2.0C, the terminal volt­
ages of the battery are decreased to 3.01 V, 2.70 V, 2.66 V, and 2.65 V at
the discharge moment, respectively. Besides, the discharge capacity of
the battery is reduced by 24.6 % at − 25 ◦ C in comparison with that at
25 ◦ C. Fig. 5. Charge/discharge characteristics of the batteries at normal tempera­
ture (25 ◦ C).
3.4. Discharge characteristics of the battery with preheating in the cold
the battery at − 25 ◦ C. From the figure, it can be seen that, without
In this subsection, the discharge characteristics of the experimental preheating, the terminal voltage of the battery shows a significant
batteries with preheating at low temperatures are researched. Fig. 7 decrease. Even so, the terminal voltage of the battery is still higher than
shows the effects of preheating on the 0.5C discharge characteristics of

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Z. Zhang et al. Journal of Energy Storage 86 (2024) 111228

Fig. 6. Discharge characteristics of the battery at low temperature without Fig. 8. The effects of preheating on the discharge capacity of the battery
heating (− 25 ◦ C). (0.5 C).

no need for the battery to be preheated, or only a short preheating time

is needed.
Fig. 9 depicts the impact of preheating on the discharge temperature
of the battery at 0.5 C discharge current. From the figure, without pre­
heating, the temperature of the battery slowly increases as the discharge
progresses. At the end of the discharge, the battery’s temperature is still
lower than − 10 ◦ C. With preheating, the battery has a high temperature
in the early stages of the discharge process, which is why the terminal
voltage of the battery improves. However, as the preheating stops, the
temperature of the battery reduces quickly, even though the battery is
already discharging and generating heat. This is because the battery
produces too little heat in the case and transfers too much heat to the
environment. In the middle and late stages of the discharge, the battery’s
temperature shows no obvious difference between with and without
preheating. Since the discharge capacity of the battery is strongly
correlated with the temperature of the whole process, there is little effect
from the preheating when the discharge current is small.
The influences of preheating on the discharge characteristics of the
battery at 1.0C discharge current are presented in Fig. 10. From the
figure, it can be seen that, without preheating, the battery is unable to
Fig. 7. The effects of preheating on the discharge characteristics of the battery
discharge since its terminal voltage decreases sharply in this case. At the
(0.5 C).

the discharge end-off voltage. Therefore, the battery can discharge in the
case. As the discharge progresses, since the temperature of the battery
increases, the terminal voltage of the battery makes a certain comeback,
which guarantees the continuous discharge of the battery. With pre­
heating, the terminal voltage of the battery is increased. As the pre­
heating time increases, the terminal voltage of the battery increases
continuously. This is because the internal resistance of the battery is
decreased by preheating. After 5 min of preheating, the terminal voltage
of the battery at − 25 ◦ C is near that at normal temperature. The terminal
voltage of the battery is increased by 33.1 % with 5 min of preheating in
comparison with that without preheating at − 25 ◦ C.
The effects of preheating on the discharge capacity of the battery at
0.5 C discharge current are shown in Fig. 8. From the figure, the
discharge capacity of the battery with preheating shows no obvious
improvement in comparison with that without preheating in the cold.
With or without preheating, the discharge capacity of the battery de­
creases by approximately 28 % at − 25 ◦ C compared to that at 25 ◦ C. The
extension of the preheating time doesn’t increase the discharge capacity
of the battery. As the heating time increases, the discharge capacity of
the battery even shows a slight reduction. Therefore, at low tempera­ Fig. 9. The effects of preheating on the discharge temperature of the battery
tures, if the battery can discharge with a small discharge current, there is (0.5 C).

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Z. Zhang et al. Journal of Energy Storage 86 (2024) 111228

Fig. 10. The effects of preheating on the discharge characteristics of the battery Fig. 12. The effects of preheating on the discharge temperature of the battery
(1.0 C). (1.0 C).

discharge moment, the battery’s terminal voltage is reduced to 2.70 V. state of the battery at the initial discharge stage. However, since too
With preheating, the battery’s terminal voltage is remarkably improved. much heat is transferred from the battery to the environment and little
With 1 min, 3 min, and 5 min of preheating, the terminal voltages of the heat is generated during the discharge process, the battery’s tempera­
battery are increased to 3.34 V, 3.43 V, and 3.74 V at the discharge ture still drops rapidly when the preheating stops in the case. During
moment, respectively. With the increase in preheating time, the bat­ most of the discharge process, the battery’s temperature is lower than
tery’s terminal voltage also increases. However, the terminal voltage of 0 ◦ C. In the middle and late stages of the discharge process, for different
the battery after 5 min of preheating at − 25 ◦ C is still much lower than preheating times, the battery temperature differences are still very
that at 25 ◦ C. small. The battery’s temperature with 3 min of preheating is a little
Fig. 11 shows the impacts of preheating on the battery’s discharge higher than that with 1 min and 5 min of preheating.
capacity at 1.0 C discharge current. As can be seen from the figure, at Fig. 13 shows the impacts of preheating on the 1.5C discharge
three different heating times, the discharge capacities of the battery characteristics of the battery at − 25 ◦ C. According to the figure, without
have a slight difference. It is not true that the longer the heating time, preheating, because the terminal voltage of the battery is reduced to
the greater the discharge capacity of the battery. From the figure, with 3 2.66 V at the discharge moment, the battery is still unable to discharge.
min of preheating, the battery has the maximum discharge capacity. The With preheating, the terminal voltage of the battery is remarkably
discharge capacity of the battery is higher by 2.5 % and 6.3 % with 3 min raised, and the battery normally discharges. With 1 min, 3 min, and 5
of preheating than that with 1 min and 5 min of preheating, respectively. min of preheating, the terminal voltage of the battery is increased to
However, the discharge capacity of the battery is still decreased by 25.0 3.22 V, 3.67 V, and 3.75 V, respectively. Therefore, a short preheating
% at − 25 ◦ C in comparison with that at 25 ◦ C. time can improve the issue that the battery cannot discharge in the cold.
The effects of preheating on the discharge temperature of the battery The impacts of preheating on the discharge capacity of the battery at
at 1.0C discharge current are illustrated in Fig. 12. As shown in the 1.5 C discharge current are presented in Fig. 14. From the figure, the
figure, without preheating, the battery’s temperature is stable since it maximum discharge capacity of the battery is still obtained with 3 min
cannot discharge. Preheating can effectively improve the temperature

Fig. 11. The effects of preheating on the discharge capacity of the battery Fig. 13. The effects of preheating on the discharge characteristics of the battery
(1.0 C). (1.5 C).

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Z. Zhang et al. Journal of Energy Storage 86 (2024) 111228

Fig. 14. The effects of preheating on the discharge capacity of the battery Fig. 16. The effects of preheating on the discharge characteristics of the battery
(1.5 C). (2.0 C).

of preheating. Compared with 1 min and 5 min of preheating, the significantly raised. With 1 min, 3 min, and 5 min of preheating, the
discharge capacity of the battery is increased by 5.2 % and 8.8 % with 3 battery’s terminal voltage is increased up to 2.89 V, 3.50 V, and 3.64 V,
min of preheating, respectively. However, the discharge capacity of the respectively. Those terminal voltages of the battery are higher than the
battery is still decreased by 25.8 % at − 25 ◦ C in comparison with that at end-off voltage. Therefore, the battery returns to discharge after
the normal temperature. preheating.
Fig. 15 presents the effects of preheating on the discharge tempera­ Fig. 17 presents the influences of preheating on the discharge ca­
ture of the battery at 1.5 C discharge current. From the figure, with 1 pacity of the battery at 2.0 C discharge current. From the figure, the
min of preheating, the battery’s temperature is higher than − 10 ◦ C in the maximum discharge capacity of the battery at the temperature is still
discharge process. And the battery’s temperature is higher than 5 ◦ C in obtained with 3 min of preheating. Compared with 1 and 5 min of
the discharge process with 3 min and 5 min of preheating. The large preheating, the discharge capacity of the battery is increased by 7.3 %
discharge current greatly improves the heat production of the battery. and 9.0 % with 3 min of preheating, respectively. However, the
Besides, from the figure, the battery’s temperature with 3 min of pre­ discharge capacity of the battery is still decreased by 23.9 % at − 25 ◦ C in
heating is still a little higher than that with 1 min and 5 min of pre­ comparison with that at 25 ◦ C.
heating in the middle and late stages of the discharge process. This is the The effects of preheating on the discharge temperature of the battery
main reason that the maximum discharge capacity of the battery is ob­ at 2.0 C discharge current are depicted in Fig. 18. From the figure, with
tained with 3 min of preheating. 1 min of preheating, the battery’s temperature is higher than 0 ◦ C in the
The impacts of preheating on the 2.0C discharge characteristics of discharge process. And the battery’s temperature is higher than 10 ◦ C in
the battery at − 25 ◦ C are shown in Fig. 16. As shown in the figure, the discharge process with 3 min and 5 min of preheating. This means
without preheating, the battery is still unable to discharge. Without that, through a large discharge current, the Li-ion battery can stabilize
preheating, the battery’s terminal voltage is reduced to 2.55 V at the its temperature at a higher temperature.
discharge moment. With preheating, the battery’s terminal voltage is According to Eq. (6), the capacity benefit upon preheating of the

Fig. 15. The effects of preheating on the discharge temperature of the battery Fig. 17. The effects of preheating on the discharge capacity of the battery
(1.5 C). (2.0 C).

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Z. Zhang et al. Journal of Energy Storage 86 (2024) 111228

4. Conclusion

Preheating is an important way to solve the sharp performance

decline of the Li-ion battery in cold conditions. At present, most studies
focus on preheating energy consumption and preheating rate and do not
specifically quantify the capacity benefit of the battery after preheating.
In the study, the discharge characteristics of the battery after preheating
are experimentally investigated in the cold. The effects of preheating on
terminal voltage, discharge capacity, discharge temperature, preheating
energy consumption, and capacity benefit are analyzed. The following
conclusion can be reached from the preceding analysis.

(1) Compared with the surface temperature, the inner temperature

can truly reflect the effective preheating state of the battery.
Besides, the temperature differences between the inner and the
surface can reflect the temperature gradient of the battery during
preheating. With 13 W preheating power, the surface tempera­
ture of the battery can be heated up to 28.46 ◦ C in 120 s. How­
ever, the inner temperature of the battery is 0 ◦ C at the moment,
Fig. 18. The effects of preheating on the discharge temperature of the battery and the temperature difference between the surface and the inner
(2.0 C). is up to 28.46 ◦ C.
(2) At low temperatures, the internal resistance of the battery in­
battery can be obtained, as shown in Fig. 19. From the figure, with 0.5C creases, which leads to a decrease in the terminal voltage. When
discharge current, a short preheating time is beneficial for the capacity the terminal voltage is lower than the discharge end-off voltage,
benefit of the battery. However, with the extension of the preheating the battery discharge cannot proceed. At - 25 ◦ C, with 0.5C, 1.0C,
time, the capacity benefit of the battery deteriorates. For 3 min and 5 1.5C, and 2.0C discharge currents, the battery’s terminal voltages
min of preheating, the capacity benefit of the battery is lower than that are decreased to 3.01 V, 2.70 V, 2.66 V, and 2.66 V at the
without preheating. Therefore, if the battery can discharge with a small discharge moment, respectively. With preheating, the battery’s
discharge current at low temperatures, there is no need for the battery to terminal voltage can be remarkably improved. And, with
be preheated, or there is only a need for a short preheating time. With increasing preheating time, the battery’s terminal voltage in­
1.0 C discharge current, compared with without preheating, preheating creases. At − 25 ◦ C, with 2.0C discharge current, the battery’s
can cause the battery to discharge in the cold. However, similarly to the terminal voltage is increased up to 2.89 V, 3.50 V, and 3.64 V by
0.5C discharge current case, the increase in preheating time worsens the 1 min, 3 min, and 5 min of preheating, respectively.
capacity benefit of the battery. For 1.5 C and 2.0 C discharge current (3) With fixed preheating power, it is not true that the longer the
cases, there are similar rules for the capacity benefit of the battery upon preheating time or the higher the preheating temperature, the
preheating. Preheating solves the problem that the Li-ion battery cannot greater the battery’s discharge capacity. With 1.0C, 1.5C and
discharge at a high rate in the cold. However, the capacity benefit of the 2.0C discharge currents, the battery obtains its maximum
battery does not change monotonically with the preheating time. With 3 discharge capacity by 3 min of preheating. With 1.5C discharge
min of preheating, the optimum capacity benefit upon preheating of the current, the battery’s discharge capacity is higher by 5.2 % and
battery at − 25 ◦ C is obtained. For 2.0C discharge current cases, 8.8 % with 3 min of preheating in comparison with that with 1
compared with 1 min and 5 min of preheating, the capacity benefit of min and 5 min of preheating, respectively.
the Li-ion battery increased by 6.8 % and 15.1 % under 3 min of pre­ (4) To get the optimum capacity benefit upon preheating of the Li-ion
heating, respectively. battery at low temperatures, if the battery can discharge with a
small current, there is no need for the battery to be preheated, or
there is only a need for a short preheating time. Preheating can
solve the problem that the Li-ion battery cannot discharge at a
high rate in the cold. However, the battery’s capacity benefit does
not change monotonically with the preheating time. For 2.0C
discharge current, the maximum capacity benefit of the battery is
obtained with 3 min of preheating, which is higher by 6.8 % and
15.1 % than that with 1 min and 5 min of preheating,
respectively.

According to the study, some results have been obtained. However,

additional work is needed in the future. The effects of state of charge
(SOC) and ambient temperature on heating the battery will be
researched. As a result, a model for the Li-ion battery’s heating at low
temperatures can be developed. The optimal heating time of the Li-ion
battery at low temperatures can be determined under various ambient
temperatures and SOCs.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Zhongbo Zhang: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing – orig­

inal draft, Writing – review & editing. Zhiqiang Chen: Investigation,
Fig. 19. The capacity benefit upon preheating of the battery. Visualization. Wenbo Zhu: Writing – review & editing. Haibing Li:

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Z. Zhang et al. Journal of Energy Storage 86 (2024) 111228

Writing – review & editing. Caihang Liao: Visualization. Qin Liu: [10] J. Jaguemont, L. Boulon, Y. Dubé, A comprehensive review of lithium-ion batteries
used in hybrid and electric vehicles at cold temperatures, Appl. Energy 164 (2016)
Investigation. Junwei Hou: Investigation. Wei Yu: Conceptualization,
99–114.
Investigation, Resources, Writing – review & editing. Yongkuan Li: [11] Y. Wang, X. Zhang, Z. Chen, Low temperature preheating techniques for Lithium-
Investigation. ion batteries: recent advances and future challenges, Appl. Energy 313 (2022)
118832.
[12] J. Zhu, Z. Sun, X. Wei, et al., Experimental investigations of an AC pulse heating
Declaration of competing interest method for vehicular high power lithium-ion batteries at subzero temperatures,
J. Power Sources 367 (2017) 145–157.
[13] Z. Lei, Y. Zhang, X. Lei, Improving temperature uniformity of a lithium-ion battery
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial by intermittent heating method in cold climate, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 121
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence (2018) 275–281.
[14] C.Y. Wang, G. Zhang, S. Ge, et al., Lithium-ion battery structure that self-heats at
the work reported in this paper. low temperatures, Nature 529 (7587) (2016) 515–518.
[15] G. Zhang, S. Ge, T. Xu, et al., Rapid self-heating and internal temperature sensing of
Data availability lithium-ion batteries at low temperatures, Electrochim. Acta 218 (2016) 149–155.
[16] X.G. Yang, G. Zhang, C.Y. Wang, Computational design and refinement of self-
heating lithium ion batteries, J. Power Sources 328 (2016) 203–211.
Data will be made available on request. [17] Z. Zhang, W. Yu, H. Li, et al., Heat transfer characteristics and low-temperature
performance of a lithium-ion battery with an inner cooling/heating structure, Appl.
Therm. Eng. 219 (2023) 119352.
Acknowledgements [18] H. Ruan, J. Jiang, B. Sun, et al., An optimal internal-heating strategy for lithium-
ion batteries at low temperature considering both heating time and lifetime
This work was supported by Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic reduction, Appl. Energy 256 (2019) 113797.
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Research Foundation (2022A1515110187, 2022A1515110683, battery under high-frequency AC excitation in low-temperature environment, IEEE
2022A1515140042, 2023B1515120064), Scientific Research Project of Trans. Transp. Electrif. 8 (1) (2021) 407–419.
Education Department of Guangdong Province (2022KCXTD029) and [20] Y. Shang, C. Zhu, G. Lu, et al., Modeling and analysis of high-frequency alternating-
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