AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN
NEW DESIGN APPROACH Focusing its attention on LFP has required BorgWarner’s approach to battery pack design to evolve. “For us, it’s about designing the battery pack to be able to package a completely diff erent type of cell,” Husted explains. “The cells we’ve been used to using are small, cylindrical cells which we package a lot of, and now for LFP we’ve had to change our design to use what’s called a blade cell. Blade cells are very long and very thin – you can’t just stack them together like layers in a sandwich, so we had to change our design paradigm for the battery pack.” In February last year, BorgWarner
announced a strategic partnership with FinDreams Battery, a subsidiary of BYD Company Limited, for the rights to localise the production of LFP battery packs for commercial vehicles in Europe, the Americas and select regions in Asia. Through the agreement, FinDreams will supply BorgWarner with its LFP blade cells and some production equipment for battery pack assembly, while BorgWarner handles the design of the battery packs. “What’s really nice about the blade
cell is its form factor,” says Husted. “It’s very thin yet holds a lot of energy, so you get this very tall, thin cell structure that needs less complication
around it in the battery pack to be put together. What this means is when you pack them together, you don’t need to put structural components with them, they become somewhat structural themselves, so you can pack them very tightly. At the cell level, LFP cells have a lower energy density than nickel-manganese-cobalt equivalents, but because they can be packaged together more tightly you regain that density at the battery pack level. For cooling, we simply attach a cooling plate on the bottom of the pack, which is very space eff icient.”
DESIGN FLEXIBILITY In terms of vehicle compatibility, the fi rm’s LFP battery packs will be suitable for the full spectrum of commercial transportation vehicles, from small last-mile delivery EVs up to HGVs. “LFP is currently being used in passenger vehicles, in heavy-duty commercial vehicles, and our focus is really on the commercial vehicle side,” Husted says. “We’re able to apply the battery packs to light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles due to our ability to create diff erent form factors for the battery packs. A big part of this is packaging, as diff erent vehicles have diff erent form factors.” Husted continues: “One form factor
we have is called the fl at pack, which has a very low height of 14cm. This was designed to be packaged
underneath the fl oor of a transit bus, for example, which is something we hadn’t been able to do in the past. Meanwhile, you look at a medium or heavy duty truck and that form factor isn’t necessary – those vehicle manufacturers want a box that sits next to the frame rail. So, we took that same battery pack and basically folded it up into a cube, which allows us to apply it to trucks. Because we have these diff erent packaging variants, we’re able to cover a wide range of vehicles.” This fl exibility is important, Husted
says, as the company identifi ed a trend toward vehicle manufacturers wanting to off er diff erent battery pack sizes in the same vehicle. “Our packs come in 50kW blocks, meaning you can add capacity as you go,” he explains. “Manufacturers don’t need to just buy one big battery pack, instead they can take a more modular approach which helps the market to off er diff erent battery solutions.” Husted says BorgWarner’s goal
is to put its LFP battery packs into production by the end of 2026, with the hopes of building this area up to form a “major chunk” of its business in the future.
For more information visit:
www.borgwarner.com
The blade cell’s form factor is very thin, yet it holds a lot of energy.
The LFP battery pack
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