POWERTRAIN
Part of the ABDS suite Q Q 24
management, including the ability to pre-condition the packs to an optimised temperature.
ARE THERE ENOUGH RAW MATERIALS?
Market studies have suggested that quantity of lithium and other battery cell components (particularly cobalt) is a problem, and this could lead to a price increase of these materials with demand. Overall quantity, however, should be suffi cient to make lithium- based cells for the medium term, and battery pack chemistries are moving to be less cobalt-based. For the longer term, there are chemistries being
developed without lithium (sodium-ion and magnesium-ion).
HOW CAN RANGE BE IMPROVED?
There are obstacles we face when we look at range – driving style, traffi c and additional weight produce both positive and negative outputs on battery life. The emphasis on range does present many challenges, one of which is understanding the actual performance and characteristics of
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the battery cells. Horiba MIRA’s new advanced battery development suite (ABDS) allows us to carry out such activities at extremely high resolution and accuracy. With the ability to characterise cell performance, the technical boundaries continue to be pushed and result in more useable energy and consequently EV range. We are also using the ABDS facility to investigate the details of cell ageing mechanisms and how to keep cells within the ‘sweet spot’ to lower the degradation and increase the durability of these cells. The facility gives us the capacity to exercise modules and packs with up to 1,000V, 1,200A and charge at 600kW. These capabilities allow us to future- proof the facility for the next fi ve years and verify pack performance and the design of future EVs. As we look at increasing performance and range, other components of a battery, most noticeably cooling, must be developed to ensure that everything runs at the most effi cient level. The ABDS facility, climatic wind tunnels and thermal testing equipment provides detailed analysis of battery, powertrain and cabin cooling to ensure maximum gains are made.
Q
WHAT ARE CUSTOMERS ASKING FOR?
What the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) want is to increase the energy available within EVs. This results in the need for
increased battery capacity and energy
optimisation.To achieve this, OEMs rely heavily on cell chemistry improvements to aid the energy density or power density of their battery packs. Another option to gain energy is to look at how effi ciently the system operates. Our eff orts will be to focus on this newer approach by off ering OEMs total energy management (TEM) analysis and development.
As the cell chemistry becomes more energy dense, the requirement for greater levels of safety and state- of-the-art cooling systems grow. Furthermore, long term issues such as material sustainability, packaging and recyclability must take centre stage as the industry manages the transition from ICE to hybrid and EV.
Faster charging is also an important demand, and people are moving towards very quick charging, high-voltage packs. The important consideration here is how to do this
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