The battery memory effect is a reduction in the longevity of a rechargeable battery's charge, due to incomplete discharge in previous uses. Some types of batteries, such as nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride, can develop a memory effect when only partially discharged before recharging.
Phenomena which are not true memory effects may also occur in battery types other than sintered-plate nickel-cadmium cells. In particular, lithium-based cells, not normally subject to the memory effect, may change their voltage levels so that a virtual decrease of capacity may be perceived by the battery control system.
Nevertheless, the memory effect described here may be of practical use. In contrast to the memory effects in Ni–MH batteries, the memory effects in Li-ion batteries occur after only one partial charge/discharge cycle. It may therefore serve as a reliable indicator for estimating the SOCs of the Li-ion batteries.
This definition of memory effect explains how a reduction in the longevity of a rechargeable battery's charge can be caused by incomplete discharge in previous uses.
Nature Materials 12, 569–575 (2013) Cite this article Memory effects are well known to users of nickel–cadmium and nickel–metal-hydride batteries. If these batteries are recharged repeatedly after being only partially discharged, they gradually lose usable capacity owing to a reduced working voltage.
The small memory bump can have severe consequences on the durability and safety of industrial battery systems, due to the SOC mis-estimate by software algorithms. Nevertheless, the memory effect described here may be of practical use.