In this free online automotive engineering course, learn how to design and build a battery pack for an electric vehicle.

For centuries, humankind has relied on fossil fuel to power their machines, from tools to vehicles. The internal combustion engine, for example, revolutionised the automotive industry. But now, fossil fuel deposits are depleting, the price of petrol and diesel is rising and the excess of vehicles in big cities is contributing to pollution. For this reason, big manufacturing countries, such as China and the United States, are pushing automakers to produce more electric vehicles. As a result, there is a need for engineers with a background in electric vehicle technology. This course will help you understand how to build the power-core of electric vehicles: the battery pack. This knowledge will be useful not only in designing batteries for electric vehicles but any other type of electric-powered machines.

The first thing you will learn in this course is how to measure essential battery parameters. You will also understand the role of charge and discharge rates. Next, you will study the chemical composition of batteries. Special attention will be given to the lithium-ion battery, the battery of choice for electric vehicles, and why this battery's chemical properties separate it from other batteries. You will then learn about battery cells and how there are three different types of cells that form what we know as a ‘battery pack’ when assembled. You will understand how to compute the amount of energy, known as ‘battery capacity’, stored in an assembled battery pack, estimate the amount of charge and discharge cycles that a battery pack has left and determine battery health.

Finally, you will learn how to assemble a safe and reliable battery pack, following an excellent mechanical, thermal and electrical design. When you study a battery pack’s mechanical design, you will review stress-strain theory to understand the forces that act on a battery pack, such as tension force. Selecting materials based on their properties to build a battery pack container using a material index is critical. When you study the thermal design of a battery pack, you will learn how to design a good thermal management system, calculate the amount of energy a battery loses due to heat and calculate different materials' thermal resistance. If your interests are in automotive technology, mechanical or electrical engineering, this course is for you. Why wait? Start this ‘Design of Electric Vehicle Batteries’ course today and equip yourself with the knowledge needed to design and build electric vehicles batteries.