AMPED
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The projects that comprise ARPA-E's AMPED Program, short for "Advanced Management and Protection of Energy Storage Devices," seek to develop advanced sensing, control, and power management technologies that redefine the way we think about battery management. Energy storage can significantly improve U.S. energy independence, efficiency, and security by enabling a new generation of electric vehicles. While rapid progress is being made in new battery materials and storage technologies, few innovations have emerged in the management of advanced battery systems. AMPED aims to unlock enormous untapped potential in the performance, safety, and lifetime of today's commercial battery systems exclusively through system-level innovations, and is thus distinct from existing efforts to enhance underlying battery materials and architectures.
Today's electric vehicle batteries are expensive, and prone to unexpected failure. Batteries are complex systems, and developing techniques to cost effectively monitor and manage important performance measures while predicting battery failure remains a key technological challenge. There is a critical need for breakthrough technologies that can be practically deployed for superior management of both electric vehicle battery and grid-scale energy storage systems. No single innovation will completely solve the challenges of battery management. However, comprehensive solutions that combine data from novel sensors with advanced models, system designs, and controls can drastically enhance the utilization and rate capabilities of battery systems within safe limits while extending their lifetimes. An energy management system that addressed all these needs would be a game changer--significantly accelerating the adoption of energy storage for electric vehicles and renewable power applications, among others. Additionally, energy storage management breakthroughs would not only improve the capabilities of today's state-of-the-art technologies, but would also be applicable to new battery chemistries, providing a multiplier effect to the development of next-generation energy storage materials and designs.
If successful, AMPED technology could reduce the cost, volume, and weight of electrified vehicle battery systems by as much as 20-50% while retaining or improving lifetime, safety, and performance.
Widespread availability of affordable, safe, and reliable electric vehicles with driving range comparable to today's gasoline-powered vehicles would dramatically reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
Unlike conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles, electric vehicles produce zero harmful emissions, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and other toxic and carcinogenic pollutants.
Petroleum imports represented nearly 41% of the $646 billion U.S. trade deficit in 2010. Electrification of the U.S. transportation sector and deep penetration of renewable sources of energy into the grid would decrease this deficit and spur economic growth in the U.S.
For a detailed technical overview about this program, please click here.