Researchers in the U.K. develop an electric-car battery using nickel-cobalt-manganese electrochemistry to produce a 35% improvement in range compared with existing technologies.
Battery maker Axeon, with partners Ricardo and Allied Vehicles, spent more than £1.3 million ($2 million) developing the high-energy-density battery system for EVs.
New battery-chemical mix improves efficiency.
The battery requires 50% less volume and 30% less mass compared with those using lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry.
The project received a £680,000 ($1.4 million) grant from the U.K. government’s Technology Strategy Board.
A key goal was to confirm that the cell-level benefits pass through to the battery-pack level when considering overall packaging, cell retention, cooling and interconnects, battery-management system components and overall system functionality.
The battery underwent automotive environmental validation testing and researchers incorporated the results into the final design.
Axeon produced an advanced demonstration battery that was used in a test vehicle, increasing its range, functionality and performance.
The battery maker says in a statement the project confirms it is feasible to replace lithium-iron-phosphate electrochemistry with nickel-cobalt manganese, and that the majority of cell-level benefits migrate to battery-pack level.
The demonstrator pack uses nickel-cobalt-manganese pouch cells, a relatively new technology for EVs that have been packaged in modular building blocks. The blocks support a range of thermal-management options and allow Axeon to conduct rapid prototyping into a range of other vehicle types with reduced development lead times.
Axeon says benefits of the new battery, which was tested on a vehicle platform from Allied Vehicles, include increased ground clearance, better driver experience due to improved weight distribution and more power, resulting in better drivability.
The new battery also uses an automotive battery-management system developed by Ricardo that works with multiple-cell chemistries, has active balancing and delivers diagnostic and prognostic information to the vehicle control system.
The partners are discussing commercialization of the new technologies.
Axeon CEO Lawrence Berns says the project has been a remarkable success.
“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,” he says.
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