Plugged In: A Lasagna-Lover’s Information to EV Battery Cell Anatomy

Final Up to date on: twenty seventh June 2025, 11:07 pm

By Mandira Change, Intern, Tech Communications

They are saying meals is gasoline, which seems to be an ideal metaphor for understanding how electrical automobile batteries work — they’re constructed like lasagna.

Creating the proper lasagna might be daunting, however it’s straightforward to eat (plus, it’s tasty!). Constructing a high-performance EV battery cell takes precision and planning, however understanding the layers inside is surprisingly easy. Each a battery cell and a lasagna comprise a number of important layers, every with a definite function.

Let’s dig in.

Whenever you think about an EV battery, you would possibly image the big, rectangular unit put in beneath the ground in most electrical automobiles. That’s truly the battery pack — the construction that homes many particular person batteries. Consider the battery pack like an industrial-sized oven holding a number of pans of lasagna. Our present EV battery packs comprise at the least 10 modules — consider these because the lasagna pans. In our present battery design, every module holds 24 battery cells, technically known as pouch type issue cells — our 24 servings of lasagna. So regardless that it appears like one strong system, it’s actually lots of of coordinated elements working collectively.

And it’s inside these particular person battery cells the place a few of at present’s most cutting-edge improvements occur.

Now, let’s think about opening a one-serving container of lasagna. That container is just like the cell casing that protects one serving of battery energy. Open the casing and also you’ll discover a stack of electrodes — consider this as your slice of lasagna (although in most GM EV batteries, the stack could be flipped on its facet). Every battery cell has a pair of electrodes: a positively charged cathode and a negatively charged anode.

The electrodes are skinny sheets of metallic foil generally known as present collectors, aluminum for the cathode and copper for the anode, coated with totally different chemical “components.” Consider the cathode because the wealthy, flavorful sauce layer, whereas the anode is just like the creamy ricotta layer — each important, however distinct elements of the recipe.

The important thing to good lasagna is conserving the ricotta and sauce from mixing right into a gooey mess. In a lasagna, pasta sheets hold the layers distinct, whereas in a battery cell, a skinny polymer separator retains the cathode and anode supplies aside. These three layers (cathode, separator, and anode) repeat a number of instances to create a stack of roughly 20 layers. This construction is the place the chemical reactions happen, storing the power that powers an EV.

With out diving too deep simply now, it’s vital to grasp some battery fundamentals to essentially grasp the anatomy of a battery cell.

To create electrical present, ions and electrons want to maneuver between the electrodes through two paths.

Lithium ions journey from the anode, by means of the separator to the cathode contained in the cell. The battery cell is stuffed with a gel-like substance known as electrolyte which helps the ions move by means of the separator. The electrolyte is just like the water contained in the cooked sheets of pasta that get layered into the lasagna — with out the moisture from cooking, the pasta sheets could be too stiff, and the flavors (or on this case, ions) couldn’t stream between layers.

In the meantime, electrons take an out of doors route, beginning on the anode, touring by means of the automobile’s electrical programs, and returning to the cathode. The electrons enter and exit the cell by means of terminals, delivering electrical energy on the best way to all of the electrically-powered gadgets within the automobile (the electrical motor, the stereo, the air-con, and so forth.). This journey strikes the facility out of the battery into the automobile — the identical method your fork delivers meals out of your plate to your mouth, then goes again for the subsequent chew.

Electrons and ions repeat this journey from the cathode to the anode hundreds of instances per second, however it’s nonetheless all performed with a number of principal elements:

1. The cell casing
2. Cathode sheets (aluminum present collector + chemical coating)
3. Anode sheets (copper present collector + chemical coating)
4. Separator sheets
5. The cathode terminal
6. The anode terminal
7. The electrolyte

Developments are continuously taking place in EV battery tech, however these seven basic components are at all times within the combine. When new EV battery expertise is introduced, it often means engineers have fine-tuned considered one of these elements, like a high chef including a secret ingredient to enhance their lasagna recipe. And since there are lots of of battery cells in every electrical automobile, small adjustments can ship vital leaps in efficiency, vary, or price.

So hold your eyes on the recipe. We’ll be again quickly to elucidate how electrification expertise works, utilizing on a regular basis ideas to make them straightforward to grasp.

Article from GM.