An Innovative Telemetry-based Testing Profile for Developing a Battery Pack for Formula SAE Vehicles

The selection of an appropriate cell model represents a critical step in the design of electric vehicle (EV) battery packs. Key battery parameters, such as volume, rated capacity, energy density, and power density, directly influence battery pack architecture and overall vehicle performance. Nevertheless, conventional constant-current testing procedures tends to oversimplify real operating conditions and fail to capture the highly dynamic power demands which can be experienced during actual vehicle usage. Although international standards, such as IEC 62660-1, use Dynamic Stress Test (DST) profiles to evaluate cell performance under high-power driving conditions, these standardized procedures may not accurately reflect the specific requirements of particular applications. To address this limitation, this paper proposes an innovative methodology for developing a customized dynamic testing profile derived from telemetry data acquired during real race conditions of a Formula SAE vehicle. The proposed approach enables cell characterization under operating conditions that replicate in a closer way the actual power demands at a cell-level. This methodology was applied to compare lithium-ion cells from different formats and manufacturers, allowing a detailed assessment of their capability to deliver the required power under more realistic dynamic severities. By paying particular attention to thermal behavior and performance stability, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed experimental framework in investigating cell performances for the development of an actual battery pack for automotive use. The dataset is publicly available at the following link: https://dx.doi.org/10.21227/mb5t-qz82