Project develops electric car battery with increased power
Share
A new battery for electric cars, with a 35 per cent greater range compared to batteries of the same weight, has been created through research led by Axeon.
The battery uses Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) electrochemistry, which theoretically requires 50 per cent less volume and 30 per cent less mass when compared to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LIP) chemistry at cell level.
‘NCM batteries have a higher energy density which means they can produce more power than LIP batteries of the same size,’ Allan Paterson, a senior electrochemist at Axeon told The Engineer.
A key goal of the project was to confirm that cell level benefits pass through to the battery pack level when taking into account the overall packaging, cell retention, cooling and interconnects, Battery Management System components and overall system functionality.
The developers claim their tests revealed that the majority of cell level benefits migrated to battery pack level.
A demonstrator of the battery system has now been deployed into an Allied Vehicles test vehicle, with the results of improved range and performance. The new battery incorporates NCM ‘pouch’ cells packaged in modular building blocks. Axeon believes that this modular design will allow them to support rapid prototyping into a range of vehicles with reduced development time.
Additional benefits of the new system include increased ground clearance, a better driving experience due to improved weight distribution; and more power giving better drivability.
Axeon and its partners, Ricardo and Allied Vehicles, now believe that it is feasible to replace LIP batteries in electric vehicles with NCM batteries.
In a statement Lawrence Berns, CEO of Axeon said: ‘This new battery represents a real step forward in the development of electric vehicles and is highly versatile, being suitable for applications for many vehicle manufacturers and across a wide range of platforms.’
Funding for the project came in at over £1.3m after the Technology Strategy Board invested £680,000 to the Axeon-led consortium.
Project partners are now discussing the next steps for the new breakthrough.
Readers' comments (3)
JohnK | 27 Sep 2011 3:48 pm
As important as the information given above must be the operating parameters e.g: operating temperature, re-charge times to various %'s of full capacity, and of course, comparative costs.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
George/ Manser Precision Engineering | 30 Sep 2011 4:25 pm
This is what we want ,a breakthrough in battery technology. A fuel free engine will be available for fixed power instalations , to charge electric vehicles. No emissions, no toxins, no unsightly envionmental hardware. The next generation
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
William Tahil | 4 Oct 2011 9:23 am
It is basic knowledge that Cobalt cannot be used for Automotive LiIon batteries due to its cost, limited availability and safety implications, even more so in large format batteries.
That is why LeFePO4 and Lithium Manganate variants were developed in the first place - to eliminate the need for cobalt.
This is a non-starter for automotive use.
Why is money being spent on this when cobalt based LiIon batteries for automotive were known to be a dead end over 10 years ago?
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment