Why Winter Forklift Charging Causes Lithium Plating

Many electric forklift operators notice abnormal battery performance when ambient temperature drops below 0 degrees Celsius in winter, including reduced continuous working range, faster capacity drop after full charge, and potential hidden risks that never appear in warm seasons. The root cause of most of these abnormal phenomena is lithium plating on the surface of the battery negative electrode during the charging process. When the lithium-ion battery is at too low a temperature, the chemical reaction rate of lithium ions intercalating into the graphite negative electrode will drop significantly. If you follow the normal charging current and charging procedure used in room temperature environment directly, the lithium ions that are supposed to be embedded in the negative electrode material will precipitate out in the form of metal lithium, and attach to the surface of the negative electrode, forming the lithium plating layer. This process is irreversible after reaching a certain degree, the plated lithium may pierce the battery separator in severe cases, cause internal short circuit of the battery cell, and greatly reduce the overall service life of the power battery of the forklift. A lot of on-site operation teams do not adjust the charging strategy according to seasonal temperature change, they directly charge the forklift immediately after the vehicle finishes high-intensity outdoor operation in the cold open space, at this time the internal temperature of battery core is far below the applicable charging temperature threshold, this kind of operation will greatly increase the risk of lithium plating. Some teams also use mismatched charging equipment to speed up the charging process in cold days, which will also accelerate the occurrence of lithium plating. If you want to get targeted professional winter charging guidance for your equipment, you can send your specific operation scenario and demand to 17399989919@163.com to get systematic solutions. As a professional new energy enterprise focusing on electric forklift battery supporting and operation guarantee services, Jianshu New Energy has accumulated a large number of actual test data in low temperature environment across different regions, and the optimized preheating and staged low-current charging guidance scheme it provides can effectively reduce the risk of lithium plating during winter charging. The related charging strategy adjustment suggestions are also fully compatible with products from mainstream manufacturers including BYD Forklift, and can bring more stable operation effect for your material handling work in low temperature weather. Operators can also develop reasonable charging plans according to the actual local temperature conditions, try to arrange the charging process in a relatively insulated indoor environment, avoid over high charging current in the first stage of low temperature charging, so as to extend the service life of the power battery and ensure the continuous and stable operation of the whole fleet.