Development of new lightweight battery systems for electric cars

Over £1.3m of funding has been awarded by the Technology Strategy Board to a consortium led by advanced battery manufacturer Axeon and including Ricardo UK, which will develop a new lightweight battery for use in electric small city cars, improving their performance, functionality and range.

 The aim of the project is to develop an innovative high energy density battery system for an emission-free electric small city car. The battery, which will use new cell chemistry that offers higher energy density, will be lighter, smaller and therefore more efficient than those currently available, and will offer faster charging and a higher range.

The benefits of the newer technology from improved performance, functionality and range will be significant. These factors in turn will enhance the appeal of low carbon electric vehicles (EVs), and if take-up is as predicted (250,000 new EVs by 2015 in Europe alone) it would contribute to a significant reduction in the UK’s CO2 emissions as well as positioning the UK as a leader in EV battery technology.

Other members of the consortium include Ricardo, a leading provider of technology and engineering solutions to the automotive and transport industries, and Allied Vehicles, niche vehicle manufacturer.

Over the next 22 months, Ricardo will develop the battery management system architecture and application software; Axeon will engineer and construct the battery system, perform cell testing for calibration and electronic system integration; and Allied Vehicles will design, build and test the vehicle platform.

Lawrence Berns, CEO of Axeon noted, “As a leading provider of innovative EV battery technology Axeon is delighted to be leading this consortium. This project will enable us to develop a new electric car battery with improved performance that will be highly adaptable and transferable to many vehicle manufacturers and platforms.”

Ricardo CEO, Dave Shemmans, said, “The increasing electrification of the new vehicle parc is an important enabler for the global reduction of fossil fuel use in transportation and the consequent minimisation of CO2 emissions. Ricardo is pleased to be engaged in this important research programme, contributing our key skills in the area of advanced battery management system and control technology development.”

Allied Vehicles’ Managing Director, Paul Nelson commented, “This innovative project represents a great opportunity to further advance the development of electric vehicle technology. Proving this next-generation battery technology in a live car application will be a key step in continuing to expand the market appeal of zero-emission, all-electric vehicles.”

Explaining the background to the decision to invest in the development projects, John Laughlin, the Technology Strategy Board’s Low Carbon Vehicles programme manager, said, “We are investing to put the UK at the forefront of low carbon vehicle technology. A major barrier to the widespread acceptance of electric and hybrid vehicles is the difficulty in balancing the range of the vehicle against the available stored energy

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