Assessing the State-of-Health (SoH) and Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of batteries using AI.

The challenge

Growing battery use, growing waste

The world is rapidly becoming electrified. Batteries are used everywhere – from electric vehicles to industrial applications. But this growth also brings with it a major problem: premature replacement of batteries due to a lack of insight into their actual health status.

Today, batteries are often decommissioned based on calendar age or incomplete diagnostics. As a result, valuable cells or modules are lost, leading to unnecessary e-waste, underutilised capacity and higher costs.

To improve the sustainability of battery systems, there is a need for reliable, data-driven insights into the actual State of Health (SoH) and Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of batteries – information that is crucial for safe use, reuse and repair.

In summary

• Incomplete or inaccurate SoH monitoring causes usable battery cells to be discarded prematurely.
• The lack of algorithms for RUL extension limits the potential for reuse, rebalancing and repair.
• Current measurement methods often only detect internal faults and deviations when it is too late.

Project objectives

Through the FreeSelect research project, we aim to break through these barriers with a holistic, AI-driven approach to battery health. The goal: to manage batteries more intelligently, extend their lifespan, and reuse them more safely. We focus on:

1. Reliable, AI-based, holistic SoH monitoring

• Building an anomaly database based on ground truth data via xCT scans and open-cell verification tools;
• Developing physics-informed, data-driven SoH estimation models at the cell level;
• Exploring innovative sensor technologies for more accurate and real-time health assessment.

2. Improving repairability and reuse

• Developing KPIs for repairability and upgradeability to repair batteries in a targeted manner;
• Use of SoH data to enable targeted cell repairs and rebalancing.

By gaining insight into the actual condition of batteries, we can:

• Significantly extend the life of battery systems;
• Enable selective rebalancing, reuse and targeted repair;
• Improve safety and reliability through early detection of defects.

Join our research

With FreeSelect, we want to bring partners together to develop the next generation of battery intelligence. Technology that not only prevents waste, but also contributes to circular, safe and sustainable energy solutions.

Take part in our research and help us shape the future of battery management.