Diagnosing Degradation in Electric Vehicle Battery Packs for Second-Life Energy Storage

About the Project

Second-life battery energy storage offers a major long-term opportunity for the UK, supporting renewable electricity integration and reducing pressure on critical mineral supply. In 2030, end-of-first-life electric vehicle batteries will exceed 110GWh worldwide, annually. If deployed effectively, these systems could meet a 60% share of global storage demand (183GWh demand is predicted for 2030) at low cost and with low carbon impact. Realising this opportunity requires reliable methods to assess a battery pack’s degraded state without dismantling it, because second-life markets cannot support cell-level diagnostics or full historical visibility of operating conditions.

The PhD will develop battery diagnostic tools that draw on physics-based degradation modelling. Targeted work areas include:

• Reconstructing thermal and electrical loading conditions from imperfect EV BMS data, which is typically limited to low sampling rates and sparse temperature measurements.
• Develop methods to integrate thermal/electrical loading conditions with existing modelling frameworks (such as PyBaMM).
• Identify coupling between first-life operating conditions and plausible degradation pathways.
• Combining modelling and experiments to identify degradation mechanisms that are present in a pack and how they influence safety and performance.
• Defining state-of-health diagnostic methods to identify problematic degradation pathways.

The successful applicant will become a member of the 2026 Faraday Institution PhD cohort, receiving a stipend of £20,780 per year for four years. They will benefit from a generous travel budget and a comprehensive Faraday Institution training programme, valued at £20,000 (see example training programme here: https://www.faraday.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PhD-Training-Programme-Guide-2024_webversion_Final-1.pdf). They will also become affiliated with Faraday’s Multi-scale Modelling project, be offered opportunities to build transferable and industry-ready skills, and gain access to the wider battery community.

Co-supervision and close collaboration with a leading UK company in the second-life battery industry will ensure that proposed diagnostic approaches are suitable for consistent at scale deployment.

Before applying, please email Alastair Hales (a.hales@bristol.ac.uk) to discuss the opportunity.

Funding Notes

4 year Faraday Institution Scholarship - Minimum tax-free stipend at the current UKRI rate (for 2025/26 standard stipend is £20,780, RTSG £12,920, full Home Tuition Fee covered).