Abstract

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are the leading candidate for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and pure electric vehicles (EVs), due to their higher energy and power density relative to other battery chemistries. A key limitation centers on the significantly reduced energy and power at low temperatures,1, 2 as well as possible capacity loss due to lithium plating upon charging.3, 4 Specifically, these limitations arise from sluggish kinetics of charge transfer,5, 6 poor electrolyte conductivity7, 8 and low solid-state lithium diffusivity.5, 9 While these limitations might be alleviated by finding more suitable electrolyte and modified anode materials, a feasible way is to resort to thermal management strategies, i.e. quickly pre-heating batteries to convenient operation temperature.10, 11 Despite a wide range of strategies proposed for battery