Battery Development

On July 19, Daimler Truck opened the Battery Technology Center at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Mannheim, Germany. The center covers an area of 10,000 square meters. It will be used to advance product and process development for battery-electric commercial vehicles. The topping-out ceremony was held a year ago, when the project was known as InnoLab Battery. Product and Process Development The BTC is divided into two main areas: the cell area and the pilot line for battery pack production. In the cell area, the aim is to gain insights into the production of battery cells. This includes tests with different cell chemistries and different battery paste recipes. Prototypes in both pouch and prismatic formats are then produced in the facility. Clean and dry room areas are available for this purpose. The goal is to build expertise in the manufacturing process and scale-up of production volumes. The pilot line for battery pack production is the second part of the BTC. In this area, the company intends to deepen its knowledge of the assembly of battery modules and battery packs. This area will prepare for the mass production of the next generation of lithium-ion batteries, which is planned for the second half of the decade at the same site. Source:https://www.daimlertruck.com/en/newsroom/pressrelease/battery-technology-center-officially-opened-at-the-mercedes-benz-plant-in-mannheim-series-assembly-of-the-next-battery-generation-at-the-site-52770559?cHash=dc943235169c69bcfbcce07b12f0a56f

Graz University of Technology has received approval for the new COMET K1 Center “Battery4Life”. Led by Christian Ellersdorfer from the Institute of Vehicle Safety, the center aims to make batteries safer, more durable and more sustainable. The project is being funded with almost 19 million euros. Of this amount, 6.5 million euros will be provided by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency. Additional funding will be provided by the federal states of Styria and Upper Austria, as well as by industrial partners from the automotive and electronics industries. The project is scheduled to run for a period of four years. Focus on Safety and Sustainability The center will build on the results of the previous COMET project SafeLIB and use the Battery Safety Center Graz as a test environment. One focus is on improving battery technology using experimental and virtual methods, complemented by artificial intelligence approaches. The goal is to make more accurate predictions with fewer experiments and less computation. Another research focus is the evaluation of the safety status of used batteries to enable their reuse as stationary energy storage.  Source:https://www.tugraz.at/en/tu-graz/services/news-stories/media-service/singleview/article/battery4life-neues-comet-zentrum-unter-federfuehrung-der-tu-graz

In Stuttgart, Mercedes-Benz has opened an eCampus for the development of cells and batteries for future electric vehicles. The goal is to reduce battery costs by more than 30 percent over the next few years.

Geely Auto Group from China has presented a new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery in blade format, claiming the battery features high energy density, compact design, and improved safety.

A new white paper describes procedures and potential challenges in manufacturing solid-state battery cells in the laboratory. It is available as a free download.

DEKRA has begun construction of a battery test center at Lausitzring where systems for electric vehicles and other applications are to be tested from mid-2025.

South Korean company SK On has announced that it has co-developed a polymer electrolyte for lithium metal batteries that can be operated at room temperature.

German battery company “theion” has opened a technology center in the Berlin Adlershof Science and Technology Park. The facility will be used to further develop the companyʼs sulfur crystal batteries.

Applied safety science specialist UL Solutions Inc. has acquired BatterieIngenieure GmbH from Aachen, Germany, to respond to the increasing demand for battery performance and safety testing.

Capgemini Engineering and PEM of RWTH Aachen University have published an in-depth analysis on the “Acceleration of Battery Cell Development”.