Founder of Battery Dynamics GmbH obtains Bavarian Energy Award 2020

26.10.2020 – Dr. Peter Keil, CEO of gate-Startup Battery Dynamics, is awarded for his PhD thesis on “Aging of lithium-ion-batteries in electric vehicles”

The Munich battery researcher and founder Dr. Peter Keil obtains the Bavarian Energy Award 2020 of the category „Energy Research – Junior Researcher Award“. He is decorated with this price for his PhD thesis on aging of lithium-ion-batteries in electric vehicles, which he wrote as a scientist at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

The jury was convinced by his extensive examinations which comprised the operation mode as well as the resting phases of an electric vehicle. Dr. Keil developed new analysis methods by which aging reactions at the positive and negative battery electrodes can be detected and discriminated more easily. His test series made it possible for him to identify optimum temperature conditions for lithium-ion-batteries during the charge-discharge-operation and during resting. In his thesis, Dr. Keil shows that regenerative braking, even at low temperatures, does not lead to an accelerated battery aging. A further focus of his research work is battery charging. He delivers strategies on how to optimize charging of electric vehicles, so that despite a high charging rate battery aging stays low. With this finding, he contributes to an optimum adjustment of battery management systems and, thus, to a longer battery lifetime in electric vehicles.

„I am very happy that my research results do not collect dust in a book shelf, but are taken up by many researchers and developers worldwide.“ says Dr. Peter Keil who also builds a bridge towards his present work: „In my enterprise I frequently use the analysis methods developed in my thesis in order to examine the aging behavior of different batteries more exactly.“ His company Battery Dynamics GmbH, founded in 2018, is located at the technology- und business incubator gate at the research campus of the TUM. There, he develops special battery testers by which he supports the industry to identify the aging behavior of battery systems faster and more precisely. Battery lifetimes of more than 20 years and ideal fast-charging strategies are presently in great demand.

Picture credits title: Bayern Innovativ/Astrid Schmidhuber