Li-Po Batteries Modeling for Mail Delivery Electric
Vehicles
Akram EDDAHECH1, Olivier BRIAT1, Habib AL JED1,2,3, Ramzi CHAARI1, Andr MIEZE2, Rmi SIMON3, Jean-Michel
VINASSA1
1
Laboratoire IMS, Universit de Bordeaux, 351 Cours de la Libration, Bat A31, 33400 Talence, France
2
Ecole dIngnieur La Rochelle (EIGSI), 26 rue Vaux de Foletier, 17041 La Rochelle cedex 1, France
3
La Poste, Direction Technique du Courrier, 10 rue de lle Mabon, 44263 Nantes, France
akram.eddahech@ims-bordeaux.fr
Abstract-In this paper, we present a model for a 100 Ah high-
energy-density Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) battery, using
impedance spectroscopy measurements. This model, based on an
equivalent circuit approach, is characterized by its simplicity. At
the same time it takes into account several important
phenomena that occur in lithium battery, such as the
dependence of the open-circuit voltage and part of the internal
resistance on the state of charge and the temperature.
Simulation results are presented and validated using the real
current profile of a fleet of electric mail-delivery vehicles.
I. INTRODUCTION
Electric energy takes more important place with the current
development of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) and more
recently the development of Electric Vehicles (EV) for a
large number of applications:
* In the light vehicles domain, the increase of the
electricity demand concerns the equipments (security,
comfort, assistance, communication) and also the
motorisation,
* In the urban transports domain, where the electrification
is highly used (trolleybus) some new solutions, based on
partial autonomy or power demand smoothing, are carried out
too.
EVs are well-suited for be used under urban conditions.
Car fleet owners are starting to adopt EV solutions whenever
possible. For example, the oldest mail delivery system in the
world; the French post office, La Poste, is developing a
fleet of electric vehicles adapted to the varying needs of
urban, suburban and rural mail delivery. La Postes long-term
goal is to expand its electric fleet to 10.000 vehicles and
reduce its transport-related CO2 emissions by 15% by 2012.
All these technological innovations rely on a common
component, an Energy Storage System (ESS), designed to
meet the requirements of each application and enhance on-
board energy management (auxiliaries, regenerative braking
energy, etc.). However, current systems present several
drawbacks:
A simulation approach was required to size and optimise
their complex architectures [1]. This global model, covering
the entire system, from ESS electrochemistry to vehicle
systems and use was unusually complex and extremely
difficult to construct,
978-1-61284-247-9/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE
Changes in the demands placed on ESS and the use of
innovative components and architectures raise the level of
uncertainty concerning their aging modes and life-
expectancy, which remains a crucial problem [2].
There is obviously an acute need for tools capable of
simulating the behavior of ESS, based on current
understanding of the phenomena involved.
The aim of our investigation is to model the behavior of a
high-energy-density Li-Po cell with a capacity of 100 Ah
based on impedance spectroscopy measurements. This paper
is organized as follow: in the first part, we present some
researches dealing with the modeling of lithium battery based
on equivalent circuit. Next, we present our approach using
equivalent circuit modeling based on spectroscopy
measurements to simulate battery behavior. We present
simulation and results validating the model, comparing actual
battery voltage and model's response to the real current
profile and finally we conclude.
II. RELATED WORK
Several equivalent-circuit models, simulating the behavior
of the lithium batteries have already been presented in the
literature [3], [4]. Depending on the application and the level
of accuracy required, these models present several
simplifications and do not always consider specific
phenomena that occur inside the cell, such as the nonlinearity
of some parameters. In fact, for many applications, the saving
in computing time may be more important than the loss of
accuracy [5].
Basically, equivalent-circuit models aim to represent all
the phenomena that occur inside lithium batteries, both static
(ohmic behavior) and dynamic (charge transfer and double
layer processes). They also introduce nonlinearity and the
varying dependence of the model parameters on state of
charge (SOC), temperature, current rate, and ageing. Thus,
several elements may be introduced to monitor battery
behavior more accurately, such as: simple resistance and
capacitance or constant-phase-element (CPE), which
represents a depression factor, valid between zero and one,
responsible for the depression of the semi-circle in a Nyquist
plot of the impedance spectroscopy [6].
 Diffusion at low frequencies is approximated by the
Warburg element. Finally, an inductance L may be introduced
to model the metallic connection between the battery
terminals and electrodes.
In this paper, we develop a simple model that takes into
account nonlinear phenomena occurring into the cell,
considers dependence on the state of charge and the
temperature and uses complex element such as CPE.
III. MODELING
A. Equivalent Circuit Model
The equivalent circuit approach is based on experimental
results representing the behavior of lithium cells in response
to different techniques, such as chronopotentiometry and
impedance spectroscopy. The advantage of
chronopotentiometry is that charge and discharge occur at
high current levels, as in real use. However, the acquisition
frequency may be limited by the equipment, making it
impossible to measure impedance correctly at high
frequencies. In contrast, impedance spectroscopy gives
accurate impedance measurements over a broad range of
frequencies, but only at low current values [7].
We monitored the battery model parameters using
impedance spectroscopy measurements. In the next figure, we
present the model used to simulate the behavior of the lithium
cell.
R1 (T) R2 (SOC, T)
CPE2
E (SOC, T)
CPE1
Fig. 1. Proposed equivalent-circuit model of a Li-Po cell.
The main parts of this model are a voltage source (E),
which varies with SOC, an ohmic resistance (R1), a
nonlinearly SOC-dependant resistance (R2) connected in
parallel with a constant phase element (CPE1) and a second
constant phase element (CPE2). This model takes into
consideration temperature effects; consequently all model
parameters are temperature-dependent.
The voltage source represents the open-circuit voltage
(OCV), corresponding to the voltage of the battery at its
thermo-dynamic equilibrium and the ohmic resistance (R1)
represents the resistance of the materials. However, the
parallel connection of the second resistance (R2) and CPE1
describes the time-dependent over voltage occurring at the
battery cell while it is charging or discharging. This parallel
connection represents the charge transfer and double-layer
processes. A second constant-phase element was used to
model diffusion phenomena at low frequencies.
Actually, the resistance and capacitance values depend on
the particular operating point of the battery and cell
degradation, so they are time-variant and change with
temperature, state of charge, power demand, and degradation
[8]. In this paper, we focus mainly on SOC and temperature
dependence.
B. Experiments and model identification
The experimental tests were performed on a Cobalt
Manganese Nickel Oxide Lithium polymer battery.
Every battery has an internal resistance Ri, due to the
limited conductance of the contacts, inter-cell connections,
electrodes, and electrolyte [9]. We considered how the
internal resistance (Ri) varied with SOC at a precise age of
the cell. We noticed a reverse correlation between this
resistance and the state of charge: it decreased when SOC
increased.
In order to simplify our model, we did not consider
dependence on aging, but did take dependence on
temperature and nonlinearity with SOC for both charge
transfer resistance and OCV into account. We also ignored
the inductive effect at high frequencies.
Finally, our model consisted of five elements: E (SOC, T),
R1 (T), R2 (SOC, T), (CPE1 (T)), and (CPE2 (T)).
The first parameter necessary for modeling cell behavior is
the OCV, approximated by a lookup table taking SOC and
temperature dependence into account. Due to various
dynamics that characterize battery behavior, it is only
possible to obtain an accurate OCV measurement after a long
rest period (often several hours) [10].
R1 and Ri (equal to R1+R2) may be extracted from the
Nyquist plot and therefore R2 calculated from the diagrams,
after plotting semicircles to represent the charge-transfer and
double-layer processes [4].
Here, an automatic approach was used to identify the
parameters on the basis of an optimization algorithm, using
the impedance spectroscopy measurements. This technique
had previously given accurate results in identifying a
supercapacitor model [12].
Next figures present the evolution of the Nyquist diagram
with temperature and SOC respectively.
-4
x 10
3
2
1
-Im[Z]()
0
-1
-2
25C
35C
-3
45C
-4 55C
-5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Re[Z]()
x 10
-4
Fig. 2. Nyquist diagram of cell impedance for several temperatures at
SOC 50%.
 In our case, EIS tests were made in galvanostatic mode at Synthesis of the Nyquist plot is significant for validation,
different SOC and several temperatures. The complex since experimental data may be obtained from tests [11].
impedance spectra were collected in the frequency range of 0.65
10 kHz to 0.01 Hz.
This figure shows a decrease of the ohmic part of the 0.6
impedance with the temperature that is mainly due to the
increase of the electrolyte conductivity. Also, the temperature 0.55
has a strong impact on the diagram shape in the middle
frequency range. 0.5

R2()
-4
x 10

0.45

2
0.4

1 0.35
-Im[Z]()

0 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Temperature (C)
Fig. 5. Evolution of the estimated parameter R2 with temperature at SOC
-1
25% 50%.
40%
55%
-2 70% The next figure presents a comparison between the
85% Nyquist diagram obtained by the model and measurements on
100%
a real cell.
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 -4
Re[Z]() -4 x 10
x 10 2.5
Fig. 3. Nyquist diagram of cell impedance for several SOC at 25C. Exp
Model

We followed parameters evolution with SOC and 2

temperature. Regarding SOC dependence, we observed that

static resistance R1 was constant while the internal resistance
1.5
Ri depended on the SOC.
-Im[Z]()

Resistance R2 depends nonlinearly on SOC and

temperature. It is obtained from a lookup table. We focused 1
mainly on R2 variation because it was assumed that the rest of
model parameters are constant. However, we notice that these
parameters depend slightly on SOC. 0.5
Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 show the evolution of the estimated
parameter R2 with SOC and temperature.
0
7 8 9 10 11
Re[Z]() -4
0.63 x 10
Fig. 6. Comparison between simulated model and real measurement on
0.62 Nyquist diagram at SOC 55% and 25C.

0.61
This revealed that our model reproduces the behavior of
R2(m)

0.6 the cell correctly.

IV. MODEL VALIDATION
0.59
To validate the model, real-life data were collected from
0.58
measurements made on a Fiat DOBLO EV used by La Poste
0.57 for mail deliveries.
Actually, to reduce the environmental impact of its fleet,
the company has made investments in researching and testing
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
SOC(%) alternative technologies such as hybrids as well as electric
vehicles.
Fig. 4. Evolution of the estimated parameter R2 with SOC at 25C.
 This vehicle is equipped with a battery pack consisting of TABLE I
COMPARISON BETWEEN SEVERAL DRIVING CYCLES
60 x 100 Ah Li-Po cells with a maximum voltage of 4.2V
each [13]. Avg. Speed Max. Speed Stop freq.
Cycle
Experiments on the battery pack at different charging and (km/h) (km/h) (%)
discharging current levels are carried out and data were
Mail delivery 8.35 74 51.76
collected while the vehicle was executing real mail delivery
missions. The next figures represent the current profile
ECE-15 (UDC) 18.7 50 26.1
applied to the cell and the corresponding voltage response. In
order to make figure clearer, we present a zoom on the test. FTP-75 25.78 91.2 37.95

300 MODE 10-15 22.72 70 31.375

I(A)
250 ARTEMIS 17.68 57.7 26.7

200
A comparison between the battery voltage and the model's
response to the real current profile confirmed the accuracy of
Current (A)

150
our model.
100 Bode plot has been limited to a frequency window about
[10 mHz; 5 Hz] due to the sampling period of experimental
50 data. Here, we choose to present a zoom on this window to
make figure clearer.
0

50
-50
200 250 300 350 400 450 500 45
Time (s)
40
Fig. 7. Measured current while executing (idem) mail delivery missions.
35
250
Module

30
U(V)
245 25

20
240
Real
15
Model
235
Voltage (V)

10
230
5
-2 -1
10 10
225 Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 9. Comparison between real voltage and model response to a current
220
profile.
215
V. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORKS
210
200 250 300 350 400 450 500 In this paper we presented a Li-Po battery model based on
Time(s)
the equivalent-circuit approach, using impedance
Fig. 8. Voltage response corresponding to previous current profile. spectroscopy measurements. This model provides an accurate
description of lithium-polymer battery behavior, taking into
The table below is a comparison of the speed statistical account phenomena that occur inside the lithium cell, such as
characteristics with the some standard mission profiles (ECE- open-circuit voltage and part of the internal resistance
15, FTP-75, MODE 10-15, and ARTEMIS). They are used dependence on the state of charge and temperature
to evaluate vehicle performances and to measure emissions dependence. A comparison between the experimental
from conventional cars [14], [15]. measurements and the model simulated behavior confirms the
The mail delivery missions are characterized by the highest accuracy of the developed model.
number of stop (51.76%), the lowest speed average (8.35 In further works, the model can be adjusted with adding the
km/h) and a maximum speed equal to 74 km/h. dependence on other parameters influencing the cell behavior
such as aging effect.
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