July 2022

Faster, cheaper, greener – the breakthrough battery

technologies that will transform car performance

READY FOR THE SWITCH? MERCEDES ON A MISSION HYDROGEN’S NEW HEIGHTS

We take a look at the state of charging After two years of disruption to its testing A team of students have built the world’s
infrastructure in the UK and US to see program caused by Covid, Mercedes-Benz fastest fuel cell racecar to showcase its
if it’s prepared for mass EV adoption is back on the track with its electric line-up potential as the powertrain of the future
 CONTENTS

In this issue...

electric & hybrid

vehicle technology
July 2022

international
July 2022
JULY 2022 Faster, cheape
technologies
r, greener –
the breakthrough
that will transfo
rm car perform
battery
ance

MA Business
READY FOR THE
SWITCH?
We take a look MERCEDES ON
infrastructure
at the state of
charging A MISSION
in the UK and After two years HYDROGEN’S NEW

Ltd
if it’s prepared US to see of
for mass EV adoption program caused disruption to its testing HEIGHTS
by Covid, Mercedes A team of students
is back on the -Benz have built the
track with its fastest fuel cell world’s
electric line-up racecar to showcase
potential as the its
powertrain of
the future
Cover 222 FINAL.indd
1

12/07/2022
15:44

WHAT’S NEW?
08. Turning point
Lotus continues its
electric revolution with
00
the Eletre, its first ever
SUV, powered entirely
by batteries and
boasting hypercar specs

12. Slaying power

Three years in COVER STORY
development, Peugeot
Sport’s 9X8 is a hybrid 42. Better batteries
hypercar designed Discover the projects
to reclaim the team’s of the Faraday Battery
endurance racing crown Challenge that are
aiming to transform the
16. Iconic return EV battery landscape
Everrati has given the
Ford GT40 an all-
electric rebirth with a
proprietary powertrain
packing 800bhp and 20
700V architecture 16 08
20. e-Power to the
people
Nissan is embracing 24. Smart thinking
a new wave of Big gains can be had by
electrification with a taking advantage of big
hybrid engine inspired data, which is why one
by Formula E and company has created an
Formula 1 technology AI-based set of tools for
automotive engineers

29. Personality profile

12 Lars Carlson, CEO and
founder of Italvolt and
Statevolt, reveals how
battery Gigafactories
can accelerate the race
to electrification

34. Opinion
Supply chain shortages
24 can be avoided in the
future if investment is
made in reconfiguring
cell chemistries,
believes Greg Off er

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 3

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sruption nz th e powertra
SWITCH? years of di vid, Mercedes-Be potent ial as
MA Busin

R THE After two Co up

RE ADY FO e state of
charging program
caused by ith its electric line-
ck w
look at th to see is back on
the tra
We take a e in the UK and US n
infrastruct
ur EV adoptio
ess Ltd

epar ed for mass

if it’s pr

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 CONTENTS

FEATURES 36
36. Driving Forze
Students of the
Forze Racing team
are showcasing the
potential of hydrogen
with the world’s fastest
fuel cell electric racecar

50. Bouncing ahead

Scientists at Georgia
Tech have discovered
how rubber-based
electrolytes off er huge
advantages for
EV battery design

56. Second life

A sustainable and cost-
eff ective method for
recycling materials from
used batteries has been
developed by Chalmers
University researchers

64. Ethics and 82

supply
The eff orts being
made to ensure the
42
82. Event preview
procurement of raw The UK Electric & Hybrid
materials for EV Charging Infrastructure
batteries is sound, Symposium takes place
ethical, and sustainable on September 5-6 in
London, find out what’s
72. The state of on and who will be there
charge
Will national charging 84. Kerb the weight
infrastructure networks A look at the innovative
in the US and UK be ways OEMs and
ready to meet demand suppliers can reduce
by the time mass
electrification arrives? 50 vital pounds of the
overall weight of an
electric vehicle

84 92. Back on track

After two years of
disruption from Covid,
Mercedes-Benz is
making up for lost time
as it returns to Sweden
for its winter testing
72 98. Battery
e-volution
Battery manufacturer
InoBat tells us why
a bespoke battery
solution could spell
the end for the one-
size-fits-all model

146. Last word

Could battery swapping
the be answer to all EV
charging problems?
Find out what’s
holding this promising
technology back

92

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 5

 CONTENTS

Editorial
Editor: James Billington

Contributors

106 Paul Bailey, John Challen,

Benedict Evans, Richard Gooding,
Alex Grant, Kyle Fortune,
118 Frank Millard, Helen Norman,
Greg Off er, Karl Vadaszff y

Design
Senior Art editor:
Louise Green
PRODUCTS & SERVICES Design team:
Andy Bass, Anna Davie,
100. Next-generation PHEV technology (Magna) Julie Welby
102. High-voltage components enhance efficiency (EMP)
Production
104. Switching on the rEVolution (Castrol) Emily Fanning
106. Battery design flexibility (Interplex)
Editorial Director
108. Structural adhesive joints (3M) Tom Stone
110. Passivation pathways (Afton Chemical) Publisher
112. Precise power analysis (Dewesoft) Simon Hughes
(simon.hughes@markallengroup.com)
114. Battery cell C-rate testing (Chroma)
116. Safer battery cooling (Arteco Coolants) Advertising
118. Continuous quality (Eaton) 100 Sales and marketing director:
Simon Edmands
120. The benefits of V2G (Phoenix Contact) Sales manager:
122. Thermal control of EVs (Julabo) Ed Marshall
124. New EV testing solution (Redline Detection) COO Jon Benson
126. Electric terminal tractors (Cummins) CEO Ben Allen
128. Lightweight EV battery solution (NeoGraf Solutions) Chairman Mark Allen

130. Battery test evolution (Maccor) Subscriptions

132. Automotive noise monitoring (PCB Piezotronics) £90/US$120 for three issues
134. The shift to high voltage (EDN Group) Published by
136. Products & services in brief

Part of
www.markallengroup.com
EDITOR’S NOTE Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology
Do you remember the first MP3 players to hit the market? The sustainability initiatives are working in synergy to take electric International,
ISSN 1467-5560 (print), ISSN 2397-
ones that could hold about 10 tracks, cost a fortune, looked ugly, mobility to greater heights. 6322 (online), is published by MA
but you still wanted one because the technology was game- Initiatives, such as the Faraday Battery Challenge, which we Business Ltd, Hawley Mill, Hawley
changing? Whenever I discuss (or still have to advocate!) electric look at on page 42 is where the breakthrough of tomorrow will Road, Dartford, Kent,
DA2 7TJ, United Kingdom.
vehicles with those who are yet to make the switch from an ICE be found. The scheme, which provides funding and a platform +44 (0)1322 221144
car, this is what I remind them. While people clutched onto their for companies and academic research to be commercialized, has electric@markallengroup.com
MiniDisc players with pride, within a few short years, MP3 player provided hundreds of millions of dollars to projects ranging from electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
technology underwent an industry-shifting advancement. They next-gen cell chemistries to pack design. Pairing innovation with Subscription records are maintained at MA
could store thousands of tracks, took on sleek styling, and prices funding is the perfect catalyst for change. Business Ltd, Hawley Mill, Hawley Road,
Dartford, Kent, DA2 7TJ, United Kingdom. Air
became a non-issue, as all electronics manufacturers joined the But there’s so much more to the battery beyond performance. Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent.
party, optimizing the technology and manufacturing cost in the Its environmental impact is something that cannot be ignored.
© MA Business Ltd, 2022. All rights
process. It’s an identical story with the electric vehicle. By 2025, EU proposals will require 90% of cobalt, copper, lead, reserved. No part of Electric & Hybrid Vehicle
We all know what those early EVs looked like and how they and nickel, as well as 35% of lithium to be recycled from a battery. Technology International may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
performed. Rapid development over just the last five years alone By 2030, this rises to 95% and 70%, respectively. Our feature on in any form or by any means electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
has brought us today’s vehicles where 300-mile range and a page 56 delves into the work at Chalmers University of Technology otherwise without prior written permission of
30-minute full charge is the par for the course. But we’ve only just who have discovered a more sustainable and cost effective the publishing director. The views expressed
do not necessarily represent those of the
started. Think what it will be like in another five years. Range will be method of recycling materials from EV batteries. Meanwhile, we editor. The presence of advertisements
greater, charging will be faster, and costs much lower. So much of also investigate the source of battery material procurement and in Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology
International implies no endorsement of the
this progress is down to battery technology. how organizations are working hard to improve more ethical and products or services offered. Every effort
has been made to ensure the accuracy of
10 years ago, the cost of batteries was high, at nearly US$500 responsible sourcing, particularly from artisanal mines in the DRC statements in this magazine but we cannot
per kWh, while energy density was low. Today, it is a completely Finally, no matter how advanced the battery is, every electric accept responsibility for errors or omissions,
or for matters arising from clerical or printers’
different story. Prices have dropped dramatically to under US$100, vehicle needs charging infrastructure. Getting owners connected, errors, or an advertiser not completing their
and energy density has tripled. Progress has been impressive whether on a major highway, rural town, or to those without contract. We have made every effort to secure
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but it’s far from where we want to be. Nearly 30% of an EV’s off-street parking continues to be one of the biggest challenges material has been used inadvertently or
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overall cost is attributed to the battery. With sticker prices for to delivering mass adoption of EVs. There is a huge multi-faceted owner, acknowledgement will be made in a
new vehicles relatively steep, as well as consumers still wary of effort underway across the globe. We take stock in the US and UK future issue.

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6 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 TECH INSIDER | LOTUS ELETRE

Turning point
Lotus is in the middle of the biggest
change in its history as it plans to
launch a revolutionary portfolio
of cars spearheaded by the Eletre
– its first-ever SUV powered by
a pure electric powertrain that
delivers hypercar performance
WORDS: KYLE FORTUNE

L
otus, like many of its automotive
counterparts, is facing a decade of
unprecedented change. To keep pace with
the radically evolving mobility market,
the company has grand ambitions under its
Vision80 strategic plan. It centers around the
company transforming its business approach and
revolutionizing its product portfolio ahead of the
company’s 80th birthday in 2028. But for a brand
deeply ingrained in sportscar heritage, the task of
transformation perhaps isn’t as straightforward.
After launching the first British all-electric
hypercar with the Evija, now comes the Eletre,
an all-electric hyper SUV, a first-of-its-kind model
for Lotus model that is spearheading a new era.
Given the company’s history of pioneering
lightness for performance, Lotus’ first ever
SUV is a bold leap, Maximilian Szwaj, VP Lotus
Tech and managing director LTIC (Lotus Tech
Innovation Centre) is rightfully unapologetic:
“The world is moving on, we need to add a lot
of technologies because of regulation, we need
to meet people’s expectations and vehicle
characteristics and capabilities.” Lotus is a brand
in transition, and Szwaj is enthusiastic about the
opportunities that arise from that position.
The Eletre, which was codenamed the
Type 132, is built upon what Lotus describes
as its Electric Premium Architecture (EPA).
Unsurprisingly, it’s scalable, with Lotus admitting
that the Eletre is the first of three new lifestyle
models in the next four years. There will be the
Type 133, a E-segment four-door coupe, then
a D-segment SUV and the Type 135, an all-new
electric sports car.
The EPA will underpin developments of models
in the C+ to E segments, with a wheelbase range
of just under 2,900mm up to 3,100mm, and can
carry battery packs from 92-120kW with 800V

8 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com


architecture that supports 350kW high speed
charging. The sports cars will utilize an innovative
new platform dubbed Project LEVA (Lightweight
Electric Vehicle Architecture), which will offer
wheelbases from 2,470mm to over 2,650mm
for 2+2 applications, housing its batteries, to a
maximum capacity of 99.6kWh, in either chest
(stacked) or slab, underfloor configuration
powering either single or dual motors.
For the Eletre, there are two electric motors,
one driving the front wheels and another driving
the rear wheels. A three-in-one electric drive
system integrates each motor with a controller
and reducer, a design which makes the unit
smaller and lighter.
It’s in the DNA
It’s the famous Lotus innovation that Szwaj is so
enthused by, not least because with the automotive
world undergoing a huge paradigm shift there’s
opportunity for creative, innovative thought,
engineering and solutions, applying motorsport
thinking and clean-sheet design to volume
manufacturing on a global scale.
“The UK, Germany, Sweden, and China are all
working so hard together to deliver something
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 9
TECH INSIDER | LOTUS ELETRE
that is worth putting the Lotus badge on,
because we don’t want to just be another car,
but instead we want it to lead the pack. In
Germany, the center of a strong automotive
industry, people are looking at what Lotus is
doing and really taking notice,” claims Szwaj.
“Lotus can leapfrog, because we’re not held
back [by our size] like other companies. We
can start with a clean sheet, with innovation
in every area, not just the powertrain, but also
infotainment, autonomy and more. It is
an incredible challenge and responsibility to
do this,” he says.
 TECH INSIDER | LOTUS ELETRE

1
2
He concedes that lightweight is a challenge Lotus – outstanding ride and handling, highly
with an electric car due to the weight in the communicative steering and outstanding driver
batteries. “It’s important what you do with engagement,” explains Gavan Kershaw, Lotus
the weight; where it’s positioned to support director of attributes and product integrity,
the vehicle dynamics, which is something that having been involved in defining the Eletre’s
traditional Lotus customers are craving. That’s dynamics from the very start. With some of the
absolutely fundamental. Of course, we can figures Lotus is currently prepared to admit, its
optimize everything, we can be flexible thanks 600hp and four-wheel drive means it’ll be able
to our agility, and deliver the expected dynamics.” cover the 0-62mph (0-100km/h) dash in less than
Lightweighting is aided with the use of carbon three seconds, gaining entry to the lauded ‘two-
fiber black components, while body panels are second club’.
made from aluminum. Thanks to stability and funding from its parent
Szwaj points to the Eletre’s use of porosity company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Lotus
as a concept, where air is moved through, has expanded significantly with teams located
as opposed to around the vehicle. The EV around the globe. It also has the LTIC (Lotus
architecture enables Lotus’ designers more Tech Innovation Centre) in Germany, facilities in
freedom with the form, here featuring a cab- Sweden and China for e-motor, battery autonomy
forward style. The platform the body sits on and safety tech and build, as well as design and
utilizes high tensile steel, the skateboard style innovation from Lotus’ Warwickshire Lotus Tech
battery pack providing a low center of gravity, Creative Centre.
and five link rear suspension which features When deliveries of the Eletre arrive in 2023, 3
active rear steering for improved agility. it will mark a new era for Lotus’ business and
4
Testing has been taking place globally, brand. But it is just the beginning. Szwaj claims
everywhere from racetracks to unrestricted in the last year alone he and his team filed for
Autobahns, Alpine passes to the inevitable over 27 patents for technology relating to the
lapping of the Nürburgring to ensure the new models, with more in the pipeline.
Eletre retains and builds on the Lotus When the Type 134 arrives, it will
heritage for driver appeal. gain a new platform. Again, this
“Dynamically, the Eletre, VITAL has the opportunity to innovate
has been developed to as being a key differentiator
deliver everything that
STATISTICS to Lotus’ approach
you’d expect from a to electrification.
Power: 600+hp
Battery: 100+ kWh
Top speed c. 260kmh / 161mph
1. The Eletre’s design adopts Acceleration 0-100km/h: < 3.0 seconds
the concept of porosity
where air is passed through Max range WLTP: c. 600km / 373 miles
the car rather than around it *All are target specification

2. Lotus is aiming to
innovate in infotainment

3. Testing is taking place on

racetracks to alpine roads
to develop its famous Lotus
driving appeal

4. 800V architecture
supports 350kW
rapid charging

10 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

The people
that make the additives
that go into the oil
that lubricates the
transmission
that drives the wheels
smoothly in electrified
passenger and
commercial vehicles.

www.aftonchemical.com
© 2022. Afton Chemical Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary
e volving
of NewMarket Corporation (NYSE:NEU) www.aftonchemical.com
 power
TECH INSIDER | PEUGEOT 9X8

Slaying

Three years in development, engineers at Peugeot Sport have

grasped new endurance racing regulations that promise exciting,
but more efficient motorsport machines, aggressively
transforming them into the hybrid-powered 9X8 Hypercar
WORDS: RICHARD GOODING

12 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 TECH INSIDER | PEUGEOT 9X8

T
he Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) class replaced
the Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) category
as the top-level endurance racing series
in 2021. In 2022, former three-time
endurance racing champion Peugeot is returning
to endurance motorsport for the first time since
2011, competing in the advanced LMH category
with its 9X8 Hypercar.
This decision was influenced by the company’s
family of electrified vehicles, most notably the
shared technology with the 508 Peugeot Sport
Engineered plug-in hybrid.
Development work on the 9X8’s powertrain
began in 2020. “At the beginning, we examined
the specification to define what would be the
right solution,” says François Coudrain, Peugeot
Sport WEC program powertrain director.
The 9X8’s powertrain uses a rear-mounted,
680PS (500kW), 2.6-liter, biturbo V6 combustion
engine, driving the rear wheels. Only the ICE
is permitted under 75mph, at which speed the
front-mounted 200kW MGU kicks in. When the
MGU is engaged, the car is four-wheel drive.
The ICE has a full power cap of 408PS (300kW),
adjusted as a function of the power delivered
by the MGU, which is directly dependent on the
charge levels of the 900V battery.
Developed in partnership with Saft, when the
battery has no charge, the transmission reverts
to rear-wheel drive. The power output of the ICE
may be increased by 3% to 700PS (515kW) at
the end of straights if the battery is empty, the
electric motor working as a 15kW alternator. This
is automatically applied by the car’s electronics.
Mounted in a carbon-fiber casing beneath the
fuel tank, the battery is fully charged by plugging
it into an external power source at the start of
the race. Independent in operation, it is refilled
by kinetic energy recovery. Power is sent from
the ICE via a robotized seven-speed sequential
gearbox with paddle-shifts.

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 13

 TECH INSIDER | PEUGEOT 9X8
“Saft is developing and producing the cells, and
we are both working together in the engineering
of the module, which is produced in the Saft
plant at Poitiers. The engineering was done
together, but the design and integration of all the
modules and assembly process of the battery
was completed in the Peugeot Sport workshops,”
explains Coudrain.
Total Energie Group helped with the engine and
gearbox lubricants. “We are working together
to improve efficiency and reliability, to have
fewer friction losses in the different systems,”
says Coudrain. “We look at the failure risks,
and lubricants are very important for those
coefficients.” The ICE is designed to run on Total’s
bioethanol-based Excellium Racing 100 biofuel.
Improved efficiency properties
In addition to the Saft partnership, Peugeot Sport
is working with Marelli Motorsport, which provides
engineering support as well as the bespoke,
high-performance electric motor and silicon carbide
(SiC)-based inverter. Mated to a high-efficiency
single-speed reducer, the SiC inverter transfers
battery power to the motor. SiC was chosen for its
improved efficiency properties, confirms Riccardo
De Filippi, head of Marelli Motorsport.
“In an endurance race vehicle, and an electric/
hybrid passenger car, powertrain efficiency is
one of the most important parameters. Making
the most efficient usage of the available energy
is the key to maximize the performance, while
reducing the need to stop for refueling.
“This is why SiC technology has been adopted
at power module level, representing a quantum
14 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
1. The lack of rear wing is a
unique design feature as no
car has won Le Mans
without a wing for 50 years
2. A V6 2.6-liter biturbo
680PS (500kW) engine sits
at the rear with a 200 kW
(270 HP) electric motor/
generator in the front
3. Riccardo De Filippi, head
of Marelli Motorsport
4. François Coudrain,
Peugeot Sport WEC
2 program powertrain director
leap compared to the standard silicon unit in
terms of electric efficiency, as well as in capability
to run at very high working temperatures.
“The SiC inverter and motor, specifically
developed to match the demanding technical
requirements from Peugeot Sport, represents
a state-of-the-art solution in terms of the weight
to power ratio and overall system efficiency,”
De Filippi continues.
Forming part of the front axle traction
system, development of the motor and inverter
technology has been focused on efficiency
maximization and system reliability. It’s not
the first time the two companies have worked
together – Marelli supplied electronics and
telemetry for Peugeot Sport’s 1990 Group C 905
and 2011 908 LMP1 endurance racers.
The first dyno tests of the 9X8 powertrain
began in April 2021. “At the beginning, we
focused on the internal combustion engine,” says
Coudrain. “From September to October 2021
we integrated the front-wheel drive powertrain
and the transmission and from November 2021,
we moved to our four-wheel drive powertrain
dyno to manage the powertrain differences.
Preliminarily validated on the powertrain dyno
before being integrated into the car, we then
validated the hardware and also the software
calibration mapping.”
A rigorous two-year testing program has seen
the 9X8 cover over 10,000km, with Coudrain
hinting the dyno validation distance was twice
that. Digital engineering and Computational Fluid
Dynamic simulations have played a vital role in
powertrain development.
4
TRACK TECH TRANSITIONS
Marelli’s technical experience in high-
performance hybrid and full electric setups,
with knowledge in energy recovery and full
electric traction systems, enables a flow-down
to a road car environment. This helps advance
passenger vehicle electrification.
“The proposed solution comes with
significant innovation at a structural
level,” says De Filippi. “In-sourcing the key
technologies and manufacturing processes
to design and produce the the inverter
power module and the e-motor active parts
proved to be a vital factor to experiment with
innovative solutions eligible for a future ‘tech
flow down’ toward road car mass production.”
“The architecture of the 9X8 is very
similar to the Peugeot 508 Peugeot Sport
Engineered (PSE) plug-in hybrid road car,”
Coudrain reports. “The hardware is very
similar and there are also parallels with
energy management, as the two cars share
the same competencies.”
“We used digital engineering for the global
powertrain integration, not only for the engine
components, its load or the electrical motor,
but also the integrity of the system. The digital
process is much faster, and cheaper, because you
can manage many different solutions in parallel
compared to what you are able to do physically.
When you simulate digitally, you can do 10 times
the number of physical tests.”
 * Power levels in electric vehicles are increasing. EVs
need to drive farther and charge faster. What does
this mean for system safety? Expertise is critical
when managing, distributing and protecting electrical
systems. Eaton’s advanced battery disconnect units
Battery disconnect unit
featuring Breaktor®
(BDUs) feature integrated Breaktor® circuit protection
technology, enabling EV manufacturers around the
globe deliver the safest vehicle systems possible.

Because that’s what matters.

Learn more at: Eaton.com/eMobility

©2022 Eaton. All rights reserved.

We make what matters work.
 TECH INSIDER | EVERRATI GT40

Iconic
return
British company Everrati has electrified
the legendary GT40 with a proprietary
powertrain providing high-performance
technical specification for one of the
most exciting EV restomods yet
WORDS: PAUL BAILEY

16 // July 2022// www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com


W
ith mega horsepower figures and
equally eyebrow-raising price tags,
today’s electric hypercars are very
much of the adage, bigger is better.
But there is a growing group of enthusiasts
who want a fast electric car yet find the latest
manufacturer models – even those with stunning
stats on paper – lacking a certain quality.
For these buyers, the ultimate combination is
classic looks paired with state-of-the-art electric
powertrain punch – an icon updated for the
modern day, but one that is sustainable, entirely
socially acceptable. And soulful.
Oxfordshire-based technology company
Everrati has been electrifying icons for several
years now, ticking off the Porsche 911 (964),
Land Rover Series IIA and Mercedes SL Pagoda
in quick succession. With a team of vastly
experienced experts at the helm, including
ex-Lotus and McLaren engineers, CEO Justin
Lunny says the company is bringing OEM-grade
processes to the sector, “setting new standards
for electrified classics.”
Driven by booming sales, particularly in
California, it partnered with Irvine-based
manufacturing experts Aria Group earlier
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 17
TECH INSIDER | EVERRATI GT40
this year on US builds of its electric Porsche
models. Aria, in case you weren’t aware, has
supported Singer Vehicle Design and Radford on
manufacturing, so its skills are top notch.
But everything at Everrati is about to take
another leap forward with the firm’s new flagship:
an 800bhp fully electric version of the legendary
Ford GT40, which aims to set new standards for
zero emission classics.
Like the original GT40, the project is the
result of an Anglo-American collaboration.
Last July, Everrati joined forces with Florida’s
Superformance, which manufactures 1960s-era
continuation component sports cars and produces
a rolling chassis for the GT40 built under license.
Buyers get two choices when they place an
order: tick the box for a V8 (which Superformance
will gladly build) or go EV, at which point Everrati
steps in, adding an electric powertrain using their
own proprietary technology. As a result, the
Everrati is the world’s only GT40 EV listed in the
official Shelby Registry.
The technical prowess starts with the motors:
twin radial flux permanent magnet motors
provided by Integral Powertrain, who are famous
for powering Volkswagen’s record-breaking ID R
 TECH INSIDER | EVERRATI GT40
1. Twin radial flux motors
combine with a 60kWh
battery to produce 800bhp
2. Everrati offers a ‘Race
Mode’ that delivers an
artificial V8 exhaust sound
3. Justin Lunny, CEO and
founder of Everrati
4. Mike Kerr, engineering
director, Everrati
5. Bespoke batteries are
positioned within the sills to
optimize weight distribution
18 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
3 raced at Le Mans (38/62), while
Pikes Peak racer. The
motors used in the
GT40 send up to 800bhp
and 800Nm of torque
through a performance 4 has concentrated on engagement too. By
single speed transmission to
the rear axle.
“The powertrain system runs on a 700V
architecture, powered by a 60kWh bespoke
battery, with packs positioned within the sills
and behind the driver and passenger to optimize
weight distribution. We’ve used the existing
chassis structure and where possible the
mounting points too, to integrate the system,”
explains Everrati Engineering Director, Mike Kerr.
“This gives us high power density and rates
of discharge and a 150kW charging capability,
delivering on our promise to set new
standards, bringing OEM levels of
tech to this sector.”
The GT40 can surge to 60mph
(95km/h) in under four seconds,
and on to a top speed of more than
125mph (201km/h), while the
battery pack can be charged from
20% to 80% via an 150kW CCS
fast charger in under 30 minutes,
providing a range of more than 125
miles (201km). Speedy enough for
those who take their car to the track
to grab a coffee as it charges.
“Our systems design and
approach to development, also
means that the GT40 offers a
5 weight distribution of 40/60 F/R,”
continues Kerr, “better even than
the original 1966 GT40 MKII A which
its kerb weight of 1,320kg makes
it 47kg lighter than a fully fuelled
vehicle in period, too.”
Experience is essential
But performance is one thing. Everrati
using technology developed for high-end
racing simulators and existing premium EV sports
cars, it has given the driver the option to evoke the
sounds of the original GT40 in ‘Race Mode’.
“Our drive engagement system uses twin active
sound generators, which deliver up to 110db of
augmented V8 exhaust sound,” continues Kerr.
“The gear shifter – normally used to select drive,
reverse or neutral – then enables the driver to
select virtual gears, with each shift synchronized
to the sound generators and torque delivery,
giving a corresponding ‘pause’ in acceleration,
invoking the experience of driving a car with a
conventional transmission.”
The car is even fully connected too, with a
4G data logger linking the EV system of the
car directly to engineers at Everrati’s HQ in
Upper Heyford, UK, a former US airbase in the
Cotswolds, where all the engineering development
is carried out.
“A car like this comes with a heritage and
performance that sets high expectations,” says
Lunny. “We’ve deployed an OEM mindset and
skillset, redefining it as a new car with state-
of-the-art design and engineering executed by a
team with experience at some of the world’s most
celebrated car makers. We’ve always said our
goal is to future-proof automotive icons through
electrification and with the GT40 we’re really
taking that to the next level.”
 TECH INSIDER | NISSAN JUKE HYBRID

20 // July 2022// www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com


e-Power
to the people
Nissan embraces a further wave of
electrification with the arrival of the Juke
Hybrid, which leverages its new e-Power
technology developed from Formula 1
and Formula E engineering
WORDS: RICHARD GOODING
TECH INSIDER | NISSAN JUKE HYBRID
T
he Leaf is one of the most popular electric vehicles ever,
but Nissan is only now capitalizing on its zero emissions
range of technologies and introducing more electrified
models with its new electrified e-Power technology.
The Juke Hybrid is the latest and employs a newly created
internal combustion engine which has been specially developed
for working in a hybrid application.
“The engine is a Nissan-engineered 1.6-liter naturally
aspirated unit,” describes Jerome Grigny, regional performance
manager at Nissan Europe. “It is specifically tuned to work in
a hybrid application and features numerous state-of-the-art
technologies to reduce friction or mass. This includes both the
timing and accessory belts being removed; components feature
friction reduction coatings; there is no clutch, and two injectors
per cylinder.”
With an output of 94PS and 148Nm, the four-cylinder ‘HR16’
engine runs on the Atkinson combustion cycle for improved
efficiency. The hybrid system itself leverages synchronicities
from within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. The 49PS
(36kW)/205Nm electric motor is supplied by Nissan, with
the 20PS (15kW) high-voltage starter/generator (HSG) and
1.2kWh liquid-cooled, lithium-ion battery provided by Renault.
Forming part of the French manufacturer’s E-Tech electrified
technology, the low friction multimodal gearbox is also a
Renault component, but has some Nissan input.
The HSG helps to regulate the battery charge, reducing
the likelihood of it being completely depleted of energy, and
improves both energy management and the overall operation
of the system. The gearbox decides which propulsive power
source to use, whether electric, ICE, or both. Dog clutches
are used in place of conventional synchronizer rings to reduce
friction. They shift the four ‘ICE’ gears and the pair of ‘EV’
gears, always starting the Juke Hybrid in 100% electric mode.
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 21
 TECH INSIDER | NISSAN JUKE HYBRID
The two electric motors are used in
combination to synchronize the gears.
Advanced algorithm
The motors themselves do not generate electricity
directly, says Grigny. “That falls to the electric
starter/generator. An advanced algorithm decides
if the powertrain should operate in either pure
electric, parallel, or series-hybrid modes.” The
gearbox also manages the shift points, as well as
the battery regeneration. “The electric motors
are mounted within the gearbox assembly, to aid
packaging – for compactness and minimum weight
impact – and to be as close to the ICE as possible,”
Grigny continues. The gearbox’s design, and
elements of the energy management system, were
aided by both Nissan’s Formula E experience as well
as Renault’s long participation in Formula One. Flat
crawlers and a single-spring assist system replaced
the synchronizers, allowing engineers to fit motors
of less than 100W, which in turn reduced the
transmission size.
Under deceleration, the electric motor acts as a
generator, capturing kinetic energy, turning it into
electricity which is stored in the hybrid propulsion
battery. An advanced Regenerative Cooperative
Brake function mixes both regenerative braking
and traditional friction braking for more efficient
energy recovery.
Developed over a 10-year period, during the
final testing phase, up to 80% of urban driving
scenarios were achieved in pure EV mode, with
only short hybrid phases needed to recharge the
battery, before the vehicles returned to EV mode.
FLUID MECHANICS
Nissan’s e-Power technology has been showcased
in the Juke Hybrid Rally Tribute – a one-off vehicle
that celebrates Nissan’s participation in the 1971
East African Rally.
The Juke Hybrid Rally Tribute goes even
further than the production car to lower
emissions. Built around the hybrid powertrain
heart of the road car, the prototype runs a
host of Shell fluids, the cooperation between
it and Nissan a result of their long partnership
in Formula E. Specialist protection for the
Juke’s hybrid engine is provided by Shell Helix
Hybrid engine oil, its formulation enriched
with antioxidation properties, in addition to
condensed water and acid which aid against rust
and corrosion. The oil also results in improved
fuel economy, which in turns leads to less fuel
being burned and lower overall CO2 emissions.
Alongside the environmentally attuned oil,
Shell’s new biofuel powers the Nissan concept.
“Shell’s new gasoline formulation complies with
22 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
1. Jerome Grigny,
regional performance
manager, Nissan Europe
2. The hybrid system
uses tech from the Renault-
Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance
1
3. A pure electric driving mode
will automatically switch on in
zero emission areas
4. Nissan aims for 40% fuel 2
reduction in the urban cycle
EV running is automatically optimized, although
a dedicated EV mode allows for the prioritizing of
zero emission mode when needed, such as in built-
up areas. The system forces the Juke Hybrid to
operate as an electric-only vehicle if the battery
state of charge permits. When in hybrid mode,
emissions are between 114-117g/km, with a total
system output of 143PS.
Two-wheel drive only, homologation of the
powertrain is ongoing. Nissan is targeting fuel
3
consumption reductions of up to 40% in the
urban cycle and up to 20% in the combined
cycle when compared with the Juke’s existing
three-cylinder, 1.0-liter 117PS petrol engine.
The Alliance CMF-B platform on which the Juke
Hybrid is based – shared with Renault’s Clio
and Captur – does without pure EV capability,
but Grigny reports that it is just one solution
to introduce drivers to electrified technologies.
“The Juke Hybrid contributes to Nissan’s overall
electrification roadmap, offering drivers a taste
of electrification technologies without the
associated constraints.” 4
the EN 228/E10 standard, and can be used in all
new and existing vehicles approved for operation
with Super 95 E10 fuel,” says Valeria Loretti,
Shell motorsport delivery manager. “This
new formulation contains 33% of high-quality
renewable components and is designed to help
save up to 20% of CO2.”
The choice of the Juke Hybrid Rally Tribute
showcase is in line with the energy provider’s
belief that motorsport accelerates the road to
innovation and top-down transfer to on-road
products. “Biofuels, synthetic fuels, hydrogen,
and electrification are all precious parts of Shell’s
strategy to become a net-zero emissions energy
business by 2050 or sooner,” Loretti says.
“Shell’s investment in research and
development in motorsport has one main
purpose – to act as the ultimate test bed for
the development of fuels and lubricants, where
innovations from the track are transferred to our
road-going products.”
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 TECH INSIDER | MONOLITH

Smart
thinking
Plugging into artificial intelligence can help engineers
dramatically accelerate electric vehicle development
and testing times, while cutting overall costs.
E&H looks at why big data is such a big deal
WORDS: PAUL BAILEY

1. London-based company Monolith

harnesses the power of AI, using its
ability to create algorithms and statistical
models to spot patterns in data during
vehicle development

2. Software can predict the test results

of highly complex physics systems,
something that would take much time
and cost in the real world or in simulation

24 // July 2022// www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 TECH INSIDER | MONOLITH

W
ith many regions less than a decade
away from reaching electrification
targets, automotive companies
are facing two major challenges:
developing EVs quickly enough to stay ahead and
doing so at a competitive price point.
With the battery still making up around 30%
of the price of an EV, it’s understandable that
many companies focus on reducing this cost first.
But there are many other critical areas where
automotive engineering teams are innovating to
reduce time and costs.
Armed with decades of expertise and volumes
of engineering data, automotive engineers
can now substantially cut the cost and time of
developing a new vehicle by factoring the latest
Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the process.
Artificial intelligence, or machine learning, is
the use and development of computer systems
that can learn and adapt without following explicit
instructions, by using algorithms and statistical
models to analyze and draw inferences from
patterns in data.
Monolith, based in London, is one such company
harnessing this power for developing vehicles. The
AI software company uses existing engineering
data to train self-learning models to instantly
predict test results of highly complex physics
systems, in doing so substantially reducing the
requirement for costly and time intensive tests
and simulations.

Less testing, more learning

Right now, automotive engineers depend on an
expensive and time intensive combination of
simulations and physical testing to model complex
systems, from vehicle dynamics to crash test
results. “However, there are many instances where
the physics of the system is so extraordinarily
complex that they surpass the abilities of
simulations which then only off er a representation
of the real system,” explains Dr Richard Ahlfield, CEO
1 and founder of Monolith.

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 25

 TECH INSIDER | MONOLITH
“This gap between simulation and reality means
results must be calibrated via physical testing with
prototypes. AI can stop this back and forth between
simulation and physical testing.”
Machine Learning offers insights into
relationships between different factors,
predictions for future tests, and can successfully
point engineers in the right design direction at
the very start of an EV program and well before
prototype production.
For example, one vital part of the development
program which has a huge impact on the
efficiency, and ultimately, the range of a new EV
is aerodynamics.
Every vehicle program requires aerodynamics
engineers to spend thousands of hours (and
dollars) in the wind tunnel after completing
hundreds of simulations. This process is
repeated many times over during the vehicle’s
development. By integrating self-learning models
and training them on aerodynamics engineers’
data, the Monolith team can get instant insights
to determine which are the most strategic tests
to run, saving both time and cost.
26 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
Aerodynamics is just one use case among
a wealth of others for EVs. From chassis design,
to aeroacoustics, component design, powertrain
development and battery modeling; any area
of development which uses data and repetitive
testing is where artificial intelligence can step
in to predict performance.
Importantly, Monolith doesn’t just need big
data to be useful but can make small amounts of
data highly valuable too. Data captured from a
handful of tests can be used to teach self-learning
models to predict behavior over more operating
conditions, including under changing conditions
such as accelerating and decelerating. Instead of
weeks or months capturing behavior in all driving
and operating conditions, AI can predict behavior
in a matter of seconds, allowing super lean testing
over more parameters.
“Test less, learn more – that’s how we are
empowering engineers with AI,” continues
Ahlfield. “The race is on to deliver EVs at scale,
on time and without being more expensive than
the equivalent petrol or diesel vehicle. We must
equip engineers with the tools to cut costs, speed
up product development
and win this highly
competitive race.
“Engineering is data-
driven by its nature
and so is AI, making
this technology a no-
brainer addition to the
existing EV product
development process.
We’re excited to see so
many of our customers
– from winning Le Mans
5 race teams to global
3 3. In the fast moving EV
market, the ability to rapidly
develop product can make or
break a manufacturer
4. Dr Richard Ahlfield, CEO
and founder of Monolith
5. Data captured from just
a handful of tests can be
used to teach self-learning
models to predict behavior
car companies and
suppliers – instantly
augment engineers’
capabilities with AI while allowing dramatically
more strategic, efficient and lower cost vehicle
development cycles.”
To prove the point, Ahlfield mentions that Le
Mans race team Jota experienced the benefits
of this approach firsthand, reducing the need
for simulations and tests by 50% and associated
costs by a whopping 66%.
Electric or bust
For automotive companies whose tech is inherently
tied to the internal combustion engine, AI could also
be the diff erence between pivoting to electric or
going extinct.
“Some of our customers are having to engineer
products in staggeringly condensed timelines
to pivot in time to be a part of the electric
revolution. There are instances where teams are
dealing with complex experiments generating
hundreds of millions of data points. That far
exceeds what any human or team can make sense
of, using machine learning is essential to allow
companies to keep up in the highly competitive
and fast-moving EV market,” adds Ahlfield.
Monolith’s self-learning models can digest
big data to provide engineers with automatic
correlations, prediction tools and suggested
design iterations – all of which can rapidly
accelerate product development.
“Reducing the cost of batteries is not a silver
bullet to enabling mass adoption of electric
vehicles,” concludes Ahlfield. “There remains
a wealth of opportunities to innovate the cost,
as well as time, down across the vehicle
development cycle.”
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PROFILE:
LARS CARLSON
Job title: CEO
Company: Italvolt and Statevolt
What was your career path up to now?
I’ve been in the mobility and transport industry
for over 35 years, beginning my career with
Sweden’s SAAB Automobile. I’ve set up a
number of businesses across Europe, mainly in
the automotive sector.
In 2019, I founded Britishvolt. I took on the
role of CEO, where I worked to scale up and
position the company for future growth. Once I
fulfilled that role, I left to explore opportunities
to build Gigafactories elsewhere, notably in
Italy, with the Italvolt project, and in the US,
with Statevolt.
What big project(s) are you working on at the
moment?
There are two big projects that I am working on
currently, the Italvolt project in Scarmagno,
Italy, and the Statevolt project in California.
Italvolt intends to build a factory with an output
of 45GWh, which could serve to power 550,000
EVs per year.
Statevolt will build a 54GWh Gigafactory,
capable of powering 650,000 EVs per year.
Statevolt take advantage of what I call, a
Europe must urgently prioritize the development of Gigafactories
across the continent to build its own battery manufacturing
capabilities and compete on a global scale
‘hyper-local business model’, which offers a
significant advantage in producing lithium-ion
batteries at scale by reducing the environmental
impact of fossil-fuel powered transport and
shipping, and simultaneously strengthening
supply chain resilience during supply bottlenecks
or demand-side shocks.
What have been the biggest technology
breakthroughs for EVs in recent years?
One of the great breakthroughs we’ve seen in
the last decade is improved battery
performance of EVs. Lithium-ion batteries have
become increasingly energy dense through
improvements to cell chemistry in recent years.
These energy efficient batteries have a vastly
improved power-to-weight ratio and take up less
physical space, which helps vehicles become
lighter and improves their range.
How can Gigafactories accelerate the
electrification race?
For Europe to reach its net-zero targets, we
must urgently scale lithium-ion battery
production, which will in turn, boost the capacity
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 29
PERSONALITY PROFILE
for EV manufacturing. The development of
Gigafactories in Europe will create a
strategically important industry that will serve
EVs and other industries which will utilize
battery power to decarbonize. Gigafactories
which increase the production of lithium-ion
batteries can democratize the EV
manufacturing process, meeting growing
consumer demand, and make Europe’s ambitions
for a transition to electric mobility a reality.
What major challenges does the EV industry
face and how will it overcome them?
The most acute challenge for Europe’s EV
industry today is competing against the
established dominance of China’s EV industry.
China has been steadily building its battery
industry over the last decade and now
dominates production, with close to 80% of
global manufacturing capacity (~525GWh).
Europe must urgently prioritize the
development of Gigafactories across the
continent to build its own battery
manufacturing capabilities and compete
on a global scale.
 PERSONALITY PROFILE

What do you think will be the next big step for The Italvolt project in
EV development? Scarmagno, Italy, will offer
There are two crucial steps: reducing charging a power output of 45GWh
time, and EVs utilizing a greater proportion of
recycled materials in their batteries.
A reduction in charging time is key for mass
adoption of EVs. Consumers must have
confidence in the ability of EVs to operate like
traditional ‘gas and go’ vehicles. Super-fast
charging will give rise to greater flexibility and
help EVs become more like the ICE vehicles we
have relied upon for a century.
As the global supply of key metals becomes
increasingly scarce, we must find ways to
recycle battery metals as a means of improving
sustainability and efficiency of the development
of EVs. Italvolt is planning to build a recycling
facility alongside its Gigafactory to help make
the process of battery development more
sustainable in the long-term.

What battery technologies/chemistries do you

think will come of age in the next 5-10 years?
In the next decade, we may see a move towards

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30 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 PERSONALITY PROFILE

As the global supply of key metals becomes increasingly scarce,

we must find ways to recycle battery metals

With a planned output of 54GWh,
the Statevolt facility in California,
USA, will employ a sustainable
‘hyper-local’ business model
lithium-ion batteries with less cobalt in their
cell chemistry. We are already seeing battery
manufacturers such as Samsung and Panasonic
and automotive firms such as Tesla and VW
announce their intention to remove cobalt from
their batteries completely.
Eliminating cobalt in batteries will help lower
the cost of batteries and make the development
process more sustainable. Ultimately, this could
deliver a significant reduction in the production
cost of batteries, a saving which would be
passed on to consumers and help make the
transition to electric vehicles more accessible
and affordable.
Is there anything about the EV industry you
would like to change?
I am working to change the battery industry
through initiatives that focus on increasing
sustainability and security of supply through
a new, ‘hyper-local’ business model. This model
seeks to reduce the environmental impact of
fossil-fuel powered transport and shipping
while simultaneously strengthening supply
chain resilience during bottlenecks and
demand-side shocks.
Statevolt is seeking to build a 54GWh
Gigafactory in Imperial Valley, California,
pioneering this model through its plan to
manufacture Li-ion batteries from local lithium
sources. The lithium will be produced by
Controlled Thermal Resources, which plans to
build a nearby plant that would supply Statevolt
with sustainable, locally produced lithium as well
as geothermal power to keep the factory
operational. I am now also investigating ways
to incorporate this hyper-local model at the
Italvolt project.

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www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 31

10,000 100 Consumers Automotive
executives
10 Key markets

The road
In 2021, the share of electric cars
(pure battery electric vehicles and
plug-in hybrids) in new car sales
to readiness was 9.6% 1
1
 LMCA Global Hybrid and EV Forecast.

CARMAKER MARKET CONSUMER

66%
of global automotive executives state that
the transition to EVs is the number one
strategic priority for their organisation
2040 53%
of all consumers would consider an EV for
Many governments have now their next vehicle purchase
set target dates for ending the sale
of new petrol and diesel-powered

97%
of global automotive executives
by 2040 or earlier
99%
of current EV drivers would consider an EV for
are confident they will meet the their next vehicle purchase
ICE phase-out deadline

By 2035, the share of electric cars (pure

battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids) in
new car sales could rise to 50-70% 2
2 According to the Accelerated and Net Zero scenarios in the 2022 bp Energy
Outlook:bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/energy-outlook.html
The road to EV readiness, for markets, carmakers
and consumers
For the purposes of this study EVs refers to fully electric vehicles (also known as battery electric vehicles), unless otherwise stated.

With governments prioritising the transition,

consumers increasingly considering EVs,
and the industry focused on the task ahead,
collaborationand co-engineering will play
a pivotal role in Switching ON the rEVolution.

Castrol and the road to readiness

At Castrol, we are committed to working
with our industry partners to accelerate the
transition, helping to switch on an electric
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bring the industry closer to overcoming the
challenges faced by helping EVs go further 3,
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*
Castrol EV Fluids benefits are demonstrated in bespoke testing and
development. 3 vs mass market EV factory fill fluid. 4 vs indirect cooled
battery system. 5 vs standard EV transmission fluid

bp pulse and the road to readiness

At bp pulse and Aral pulse, an electrified
future drives our ambition to become A leading
provider of future e-Mobility solutions. We are
committed to helping make the switch to EV
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seamless.

to download the study visit castrol.com/EV

 OPINION
The impact of global events on automotive supply
Greg Offer
chains and prices has brought security of supply even
more to the forefront than before. Chip delays caused by
Covid have been compounded by the war in Ukraine
disrupting already strained supply chains, resulting in
waiting lists for some popular new cars approaching a year.
However, these disruptions are short term. Supply chains
can be reconfigured and rectified if there is a sufficient
supply of raw materials, energy, and labor at the front end.
When it comes to the supply of those materials, analysts
have talked a lot about cobalt over the last few years, which
has led to research in reducing cobalt levels, and significant
investments in understanding and securing the supply
chains. Nickel is also important. A 250% price spike in one
day back in March was so severe it shone a light on how
important some materials are to critical industries. However,
positive electrodes can be substituted, and some players,
such as Tesla, are already offering
lower cost LFP packs in some
models. Iron is not likely to become The huge issue with
a problem, and the amount of
phosphate needed for batteries is mining raw materials
tiny compared to fertilizers and
other uses. is the time scales for
For other parts of the battery,
such as the negative electrode,
new capacity to
natural graphite of the right quality
is only found in a few places in the
become productive
world. Artificial graphite can be
readily made from multiple sources, but it is mostly a
by-product of the oil industry. From a security of
supply point of view, it probably isn’t a big problem,
however, from a sustainability point of view, it isn’t
great if the electric vehicle revolution is dependent
upon our continued refining of fossil fuels.
Silicon additives are growing in popularity, but
apart from the cost to engineer highly tailored
structures, security of supply doesn’t appear to be a
problem. Separators are another critical component,
34 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
om e.c
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Ph oto g rap hy
Futu re issues
of supply ch
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chem istr ie
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but the separator market is fierce with multiple suppliers
and options, and is a relatively well functioning market
keeping prices low through competition. Likewise for pouch
material or cylindrical and prismatic cell materials.
However, what could be the biggest problem is the
lithium itself. Unfortunately, lithium cannot be substituted for
anything else in a lithium-ion battery. The huge issue with
mining raw materials is the time scales for new capacity to
become productive. According to a Benchmark Mineral
Intelligence report, new production can take 5-10 years to
reach full production rates, and they estimate at least
US$42bn of investment is needed to
meet 2030 demand. Clearly this is a
very attractive opportunity for some,
but failure to deliver even a small
part of this would mean millions
fewer electric vehicles on the road
by 2030, which could jeopardize
efforts to keep global temperature
rises below 1.5oC.
Another looming problem is a
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chemicals remain in the environment for a long time. They
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Dr Gregory Offer is a professor in mechanical engineering at
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 FO
FORZE IX

DRIVING

36 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

ORZE
FORZE IX

A team of university students have built

the world’s fastest hydrogen-electric racecar
and are taking on the heavyweights of internal
combustion to showcase this technology
as the future of motorsport and mobility
WORDS: JAMES BILLINGTON

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 37

 FORZE IX

T
he accomplishments of the Formula E
and Extreme E racing series have
demonstrated that electrification has
firmly established its place on the
motorsport podium. But in the race
for new energy powertrain technologies,
hydrogen is hot on the heels of battery electric
power but does it have the potential to 1
overtake it as the future of motorsport?
This is the vision a team of students have
and are confident it will happen. For the past 15
years the Delft University of Technology (TU
Delft) in the Netherlands has been developing,
building, and racing its lineage of Forze fuel
cell racecars with students showcasing its
performance prowess.
Next year will see the track debut of its
latest iteration, the Forze IX, the fastest
hydrogen race car in the world. The Forze IX
will enter the GT class of the Supercar
Challenge next racing season, competing
against the world’s fastest production cars
from the likes of Lamborghini, Ferrari and
more. “This is our vision of the future of
motorsport. We are a young team with “The benefits of hydrogen are talked about
young technology and want to beat these for heavy industry and long-range mobility,
professional teams with their 100-year-old which for us translated to endurance racing,
technology,” says Coen Tonnaer, team manager the most famous of which is Le Mans, so we
at Forze Hydrogen Racing. built [our next racecar] the Forze VII on an Le
Mans Prototype [LMP] chassis,”
Nine lives explains Tonnaer.
The Forze project began in 2007 “It is our vision to promote “We competed as the first ever
with a small, relatively simple hydrogen vehicle against internal
hydrogen car the size of a go-kart this technology by showing combustion racecars. After some
they entered into the Formula
Zero competition, which they won its potential in racing” iteration, the Forze VIII came
along. With 100kW of fuel cell
for three consecutive years. Coen Tonnaer, team manager, Forze Hydrogen Racing power output and 220kW of boost
Following this they entered the power, we raced this against
Formula Student competition with a larger petrol-powered cars in the Netherlands,
car measuring about a meter in width and gaining podium places.”
two meters in length. For the Forze IX car, which is in its third year
In 2015, things went to another level when of the development program, those numbers
the team decided to build the first full-size fuel will be really scaled up. Working with the same
cell powered racecar, the Forze VI, based off a chassis dimensions as the Forze VIII, Tonnaer
Lotus chassis. The result made headlines by and his team have been faced with the
comfortably breaking the lap record for challenge to cram in nearly twice the fuel cell
hydrogen vehicles at the Nürburgring, power at 240kW (327hp) and triple the boost
completing the 13-mile lap of the Nordschleife power of 600kW (800hp). The performance
in 10 minutes 42 seconds – beating the delivers top speeds of 300km/h (186mph) and
previous record of 11 minutes 58 seconds set by 0-100km/h (0-62mph) acceleration in less than
Nissan in 2008. The record still stands today. three seconds.

38 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com


“We are a young team with young
technology and want to beat these
professional teams with their
100-year-old technology”
Packaging its power
“Using CFD simulations to perfect the body
aerodynamics we are able to reach those top
speeds,” describes Tonnaer. “The car uses
regenerative braking, recuperating as much
energy in one corner as a Formula 1 car can do
in one lap. The unleashed regenerated power
of more than 800hp is channeled to each of its
four electric motors, spinning at its optimum
velocity for very quick acceleration.”
This incredible amount of boost comes
directly from the fuel cells, but as a technology
they ramp up slower than internal combustion
engines, so to overcome this the team
introduced a big battery made of
supercapacitors. “It’s not energy dense, but
power dense so you can extract a lot of energy
really fast. The Forze IX has a supercapacitor
with a buffer of around 5.1mj, enabling it to
unleash 600kW instantly.”
All the extra power with no extra chassis
space comes with obvious powertrain
packaging difficulties. The new car requires
two entire fuel cell systems, whereas the Forze
VIII has just the one.
“This system has to allow the air in, fi lter it,
compress it, cool it down, and then humidify it
before it can go into the fuel cell, then on the
other side get it to the correct pressure. For
two of these systems to fit in nearly the same
amount of space [as the old car] it was really
hard but compromises had to be made in the
body panels to fit it in,” reveals Tonnaer.
Then there is the biggest challenge of the
fuel cells themselves, which are difficult to
cool, as Tonnaer explains. “The difference
of the temperature compared with ambient
temperature is less than with internal
combustion.” Another challenge is the
embedded system. “There is no standard
off-the-shelf embedded solution. We have over
400 actuators and sensors on the car – more
than a Formula 1 car. These systems are things
that OEMs would traditionally develop but we
had to develop these ourselves, which is tough
challenge for students. However, our basic
concept has been proven. Our partners help us
out, who co-develop some systems with us.”
One of those partners is Shell. Famously a
purveyor of fossil fuels, it has been moving
into new, clean energy for several years and is
ramping up its efforts across electrification and
also hydrogen. This is the second year Shell has
been working with the team, and leverages its
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 39
FORZE IX
STUDENT UNION
The Forze IX has undergone two full
years of design and was built last
January. The chassis is based on an
LMP chassis on a monocoque. At the
rear, the team developed and made
its own frame that houses all the
components, as well as a sub-frame
and the gearbox housing which forms
a structural part of the car.
1. The Forze IV still holds
its 2015 lap record for
hydrogen vehicles at the
Nürburgring’s Nordschleife
2. The Forze IX’s use of a
supercapacitor means it
can recuperate and store as
much energy in one corner
than a Formula 1 car can
regen during an entire race
 FORZE IX

global network of R&D departments to help released to road-going electric

the team develop, test and race the car –
showcasing the capabilities of hydrogen.
“We see hydrogen will be a very important
energy carrier of the future that will be needed
to decarbonize transport. Decarbonizing
transport is a very tough challenge that we are
committed to working. We see two key
solutions in this area. One is battery electric
mobility and the other is hydrogen,” says
Karsten Wilbrand, senior principal scientist
of mobility at Shell.
“Working with Formula 1 and Formula E
we have learned a lot from motorsport as it
is such an innovative area. We want to do the
same with hydrogen motorsport. We are
working with Forze as we see it as a leading
motorsport team in hydrogen.”
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
Nearby to Shell’s development center
in Hamburg it plans to build a 100mWh
electrolyzer to have large volumes of
hydrogen available. “The technology
is very mature but the challenge is to
further increase its efficiency and to
reduce the cost, and reduce the amount
of precious metals. We then need to build
large plants. The biggest electrolyzer we
currently have is 10mW. We’re going to
build 100mW, but then people are already
talking about Gigawatts for 2030. It’s
about scaling up by factors of 100,” says
Shell’s Karsten Wilbrand.
cars. Wilbrand believes the strides
being made with hydrogen on
and off the track are laying the
foundations for its future.
“For heavy duty vehicles and
long-distance travel, hydrogen is
a better solution than electric.
Daimler and Volvo are launching
trucks that run 1,000km [621
miles] on a single tank – which is
impossible with electric. It comes
with faster refueling, and also a
much better payload. For a truck,
hydrogen is lighter compared with
carrying around a heavy battery.
But both technologies are ideal
solutions for their use case, and

Fuel of the future “Working with Formula we are developing both.”

Shell’s involvement in motor
racing, notably oils for Formula 1,
has seen its innovation go from
track to road. Most recently, it has
developed special e-fluids used
by the likes of the Nissan e.dams
Formula E cars, which it has now
3 how far hydrogen-electric power can go.
1 and Formula E we
have learned a lot from
motorsport as it is such
an innovative area”
Karsten Wilbrand, senior principal scientist of mobility, Shell he is “convinced that hydrogen will make its
3. CFD simulation has been
used to perfect the
aerodynamics of the
chassis to enable it to reach
top speeds of 300km/h
4. The new car has to pack
in two fuel cell systems
within the same footprint
of the old car, which posed
packaging challenges
Hydrogen’s potential as a leading fuel of the
future is reiterated by Tonnaer and the Forze
team: “Our team of 30 full-time and 30
part-time students work voluntarily the entire
year just because of their belief in this
technology. It is our vision to promote this
technology by showing its potential in racing.”
As for the future of motorsport Tonnaer says
appearance in professional motorsport.”
“There are rumors about multiple parties
already working on it, there are also concrete
plans from the ACO (Automobile Club de
l’Ouest), the organizer of Le Mans to have
a hydrogen competition in 2025-2026.”
Until then, for Forze IX, the coming months
will see the entire chassis and body finalized
followed by checks to the balance plant and
internal elements. It will then move onto dyno
testing, then low-speed testing, high-speed
testing, and next racing season the dream of
lining up on the grid to literally show the world

40 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

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 FARADAY BATTERY CHALLENGE

Up to the
CHALLE
42 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
 FARADAY BATTERY CHALLENGE

With phase one of UK Research and Innovation’s Faraday Battery Challenge

completed, Tony Harper, director of the program, talks to E&H about its
successful projects and the future landscape for EV battery development

ENGE
WORDS: JOHN CHALLEN

T
he UK has a long-held aim to be a center of
excellence for research and development of
electric vehicles and associated components.
One of the biggest steps to achieving this goal
came in 2017, when the Faraday Battery Challenge
was established. The challenge spawned from the UK
government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge fund, an overall
R&D investment in batteries, which includes all the funding
for its independent research site, the Faraday Institution.
Now, under the UK Research and Innovation program
(UKRI) umbrella, to date, it has pledged £330m (US$413m)
funding for research, innovation projects and facilities
around the future vehicle power source.

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 43

 FARADAY BATTERY CHALLENGE
The Faraday Battery Challenge has, so far,
completed four rounds of collaborative R&D
projects, which have seen projects receive
£90m (US$113m) in funding over the past four
years. “That funding also includes our
investment in the UK battery Industrialisation
Centre (UK BIC). In other words, it’s a complete
umbrella program that goes all the way from
labs, through the Faraday Institution, through
to large-scale scale-up of commercial
products,” explains Tony Harper, director of
the Faraday Battery Challenge. “All four rounds
of competition have been oversubscribed with
fundable projects. We independently assess all
of the projects and set a ‘bar’ score out of 100
in terms of their technical, business and
commercial competency. These are all
industry-led propositions and we’ve been
delighted with the response.”
44 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
At the beginning of the program, Harper
and his team laid out what the challenges were
for batteries in two areas. “Firstly, it was to
3
achieve mass adoption in the UK and, secondly,
for us to build a scientific and physical supply
chain for them in the UK,” he says. “We “Interest in improving
established eight targets that projects should
consider and/or meet: power density; energy
lithium iron phosphate
density; cost; first life; safety; temperature
predictability and recyclability. Each project
is a definite trend and
is slightly different in that respect, because it also whether sodium-
comes at a challenge from a different angle.”
ion could take its place
Backing the winners
One of the most important elements in any in time – or even high
potential project that the Faraday Battery
Challenge encounters is commercial viability. manganese solutions”
Even in their most embryonic form, there Tony Harper, director, Faraday Battery Challenge

1 iCoBat (PARTNERS: MIVOLT; UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK; RICARDO)
2 GRAMOX (PARTNERS: UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK; ANAPHITE)
1. The Challenge aims to
support the development
of science, technology and
manufacturing scale-up
capability for batteries
3 Li4UK (PARTNERS: WARDELL ARMSTRONG; CORNISH LITHIUM;
of electric vehicle propulsion
2. Commercial viability is
one of the most important
elements to any project
3. The Faraday Institution
delivers training to the
next generation of battery
scientists and engineers
FIVE GET FUNDING
In total, 90 collaborative R&D projects have received
varying levels of funding through the Faraday Battery
Challenge, with many of them thriving as they move
towards commercial reality. Here are five success stories.
When it comes to EV demands from car
manufacturers – particularly performance
car manufacturers – near the top of the list is
efficiency at the pack level. iCoBat addresses
two of the main concerns: total pack energy
density and the total cost.
“Today, a lot of the cost and weight and
packaging in a battery pack is taken up by the
cooling,” says Tony Harper. “You cool the cells
with a plate, and then you extract heat from
the plate with the cooling system. The iCoBat
pack project examined what happened if you
immersed all of the cells in a liquid coolant. That
enables the cells to be packed more tightly.”
The GRAMOX project looked at how graphite
could be used on the cathodes in cells to get a
better morphology. This process would allow
more lithium ions to be stored and get them
in and out of the cathode more quickly.
“It started off as a feasibility project just to
see whether graphene could be a key enabler
for that process and it turns out that it could,”
explains Harper.
The actual GRAMOX project was a follow-on
to that initial feasibility study and looking at
building a cell with graphene in the cathode
AND THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM)
This study looked at whether there were lithium
deposits in the UK that could be used for future
battery production.
Samples obtained during the study found
that the highest lithium grades were located in
Cornwall and Aberdeenshire, and that through
direct lithium extraction and lithium extraction
from a micaceous source, low-carbon lithium
compounds could be obtained domestically.
“It turns out we’ve got both brine-based
lithium deposits in Cornwall and mineral-based
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 45
FARADAY BATTERY CHALLENGE
This approach is particularly relevant for
applications where there’s a lot of current going
in and out of the pack, either because it’s a very
high-performance hybrid, or charging takes place
at a very high rate and a lot of heat is generated.
“Essentially, that project demonstrated high
performance packs that are immersively cooled
could beat the current technology on cost and
build competency,” explains Harper.
Within the project’s consortium, Ricardo was
a lead player and the technology is expected
to find its way through to high performance
vehicles that are being developed in the UK and
possibly elsewhere around the world.
again, which would be a world first for the
UK. “The work that’s been done takes it from
a lab-based hypothesis through to a single
demonstration,” says Harper. “It’s still some
way from mass production, but really pulling
through some very interesting technology
again, hitting two of our eight targets – power
density and energy density. Many of these
new technologies will take 10 years from lab to
road, but the GRAMOX project is accelerating
the first couple of years of that process for
graphene in cathodes.”
deposits elsewhere,” says Harper. “We know
that, through previous studies we’ve done,
we’re going to need around 70,000 kilotons of
lithium equivalent per year to feed the industry.
And that study identified a number of deposits
in the UK.”
Harper says the Faraday team still doesn’t
know whether it’s going to be enough, but they
know where they are. “There’s commercial
activity now starting to extract those deposits,”
he confirms.
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 FARADAY BATTERY CHALLENGE

4 LiNaMan (PARTNERS: CPI; LINA

ENERGY; LANCASTER UNIVERSITY)
Involving a very different technology, LiNaMan sought
to produce and test the first planar sodium-nickel-
chloride (NaNiCl2) battery. The project set out to
demonstrate the high-power potential and performance
abilities of the NaNiCl2 battery, alongside showcasing
how high-volume manufacturing can be undertaken at
scale for the cell.
“The team there have brought their technology to a
point where they can now demonstrate it in cells and
they are now starting to attract significant investment,”
reports Harper. “And we’re seeing sodium ion batteries
in general as starting to become a UK strength.”

5
SUPErB (PARTNERS: UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE LONDON; UNIVERSITY OF
BIRMINGHAM; ECHION TECHNOLOGIES;
WILLIAM BLYTHE AND QINETIQ)
This project combines the power and cycle-life benefits of
a supercapacitor with the energy benefits of a lithium battery
to deliver ultra-fast charge and discharge capabilities.
The team worked to use advanced electrode materials and
lithium-ion battery engineering in order to overcome this
challenge, and successfully developed the SUPErB ultra-high
power cell.
During the course of the project, the team were also able
to demonstrate a battery capable of a full recharge in less
than three minutes, highlighting the potential consumer
applications of this technology.
4
4. Successful projects needs to be commercial promise and the
will help accelerate likelihood of industry backing to production.
electrification across
a wide variety of sectors It’s an approach that exists for very good
reason. Time is of the essence for battery
5. The UK is in urgent production and technologies for the UK.
need of battery
production to meet “Just for the automotive industry we need,
forecasts of demand by 2030, more than 80 gigawatt hours of
battery production a year,” reveals Harper,
adding that the number rises to around 140
gigawatt hours by 2035. “So by that time, we
need about five Gigafactories, a supply chain
and an innovation flow to support this demand
in the future.”
The EV world’s future is set for interesting
times, believes Harper, who says the battery
industry is experiencing developments in areas
that people might not expect.
“We’re seeing a lot of growth in cheaper,
but ‘good enough’ battery technology – for
example, in Tesla’s use of lithium iron
phosphate,” he explains. “The pack and cell
engineering on some of the more cost effective
and slightly lower performance battery
technology is proving to be good enough for a
large part of the vehicle market. So, interest in
improving lithium iron phosphate is a definite
trend and also whether sodium-ion could take
its place in time – or even whether there are
high manganese solutions that might fit in that
5 space. On the high performance side, increased

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 47

 FARADAY BATTERY CHALLENGE

“There’s lots of scope to get embedded silicon in the anode is a really big near term
trend,” continues Harper. “We’ve got
carbon down on the battery side, but companies such as Nexeon who we’ve
supported through the challenge and the
we’ve got to innovate in the company is now growing to a point where it is
attracting investment to grow the capability.”
manufacturing and the
Sustainable future
materials processing” Recyclability is also a hot topic and something
that Harper embraces. “There is a keen interest
in understanding how to recycle batteries and
how to get the embedded carbon in batteries
out. There’s lots of scope to get embedded
carbon down on the battery side, but we’ve got
to innovate in the manufacturing and the
materials processing. We’re seeing a lot of
6. Dr Beth Johnson from
the University of Sheffield
6 focus in that area. And it’s a big area of growth
is working on next-gen in terms of research, innovation and
li-ion cathode materials companies building capability.”
7 and 8. Research and
Another big issue is resources, something
development at the UK that Harper stresses the industry is working
Battery Industrialisation hard on to search for solutions.
Centre (UKBIC) provides
hands-on training in
“We know that there’s a divergence on the
battery manufacturing critical mineral availability that occurs around
2028/29,” he explains. “However, that ‘lower
9. The Faraday funded
performance’ battery technology in chemistry
ReLiB project focuses on
separating and repurposing helps meet some of the requirements of mass
li-ion battery cell materials vehicles and actually eases some of the burden
7 because lithium iron phosphate doesn’t
contain nickel. So, if we can grow that
considerably and make that work for a very
large amount of applications that he eases the
demand on some of the critical materials
recycling planning. So at the moment, there
are worrying predictions about the divergence,
but then there are also technological trends in
the meantime, that may well help.”

48 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

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 RUBBER BATTERIES

ncing
ou
B T A new application of a rubber-based
electrolyte material promises enormous
advantages for the future design of
safe, efficient, and recyclable batteries

he development and manufacturing

of electric vehicle batteries is
continuing to face challenges caused
WORDS: FRANK MILLARD

to more reliable operation of solid-state

by disruptions in the supply chain
of mineral resources, materials and
components. Not only is this a fallout from the
Covid but also geo-political tensions, which
may see countries fail to fulfi l their plans to
meet net-zero targets.
Research facilities and universities across
the world are rising to the challenge to ensure
this doesn’t happen by thinking outside the
box of battery design and material selection.
At the George W. Woodruff School of
Mechanical Engineering, which is part of the
Georgia Institute of Technology, its researchers
have developed a rubber electrolyte, which
produced through low-temperature
polymerization, has been shown to prevent
lithium dendrite growth and allow for
faster-moving ions, therefore contributing
batteries even at ambient temperatures.
The potentially breakthrough research was
conducted in collaboration with the Korea
Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
and published in the journal Nature.
Electrolyte problems solved
The work by Georgia Tech engineers claims
to have solved the problem of slow lithium-ion
transport and poor mechanical properties by
using synthetic rubber (elastomer) electrolytes.
This was achieved by allowing the material
to form a three-dimensional interconnected
plastic crystal phase within the robust rubber
matrix, leading to high ionic conductivity,
superior mechanical properties and
electrochemical stability.
Conventional polymer electrolytes do not
have sufficient ionic conductivity and
mechanical stability for use in solid-state

50 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 ad
RUBBER BATTERIES

ahe

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 51

+1 262-372-2165 | tlxtech.com

2 rubber electrolytes are
batteries, but the material under
development does.
Rubber electrolytes provide
distinct benefits over the
conventional liquid and solid
electrolytes. For example, organic
liquid electrolytes in conventional
Li-ion batteries and Li-metal
batteries – which are touted as
next-generation batteries where
the graphite anode is replaced
with a Li-metal anode – are at
risk of catching fire, leading to
a potential battery explosion.
Elsewhere, solid-inorganic
electrolytes often require
complicated manufacturing
processes and environments.
Garnet-based solid electrolytes require
a high-temperature sintering process,
meanwhile sulfide-based solid electrolytes
see decomposition in ambient conditions
and release toxic hydrogen sulfide.
“On the other hand, rubber electrolytes
are safer due to their flame retardancy, and
the synthesis methods of rubber electrolytes
is a highly possible to be adapted to the current
roll-to-roll manufacturing process of battery
production,” reveals says Georgia Tech
researcher, Michael Lee.
The use of conventional solid-polymer
electrolytes has been limited because of its
low ionic conductivity at room temperature,
which is a measure related to the movement
of ions, something that is an important
“Rubber electrolytes have high ionic
conductivity at room temperature
and excellent mechanical toughness
3
parameter for the electrolyte – and insufficient
mechanical stability.
Lee explains that the operation of polymer-
based batteries often requires elevated
temperatures. “To elevate temperatures, more
energy, weight, and cost for thermal
management systems are required in practical
applications [such as electrical vehicles],” he
says. “Rubber electrolytes have high ionic
conductivity at room temperature and
excellent mechanical toughness. Thus, the
batteries with rubber electrolytes can be safely
operated at that temperature.”
The rewards of rubber
Although rubber is a common material used
in a variety of industries, it was not considered
Michael Lee, researcher, Georgia Tech
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 53
RUBBER BATTERIES
1. Researchers believe
safer than conventional
solid or liquid electrolytes
2. Rubber is flame
retardant and can be easily
introduced into battery
manufacturing processes
3. The material has been
shown to prevent lithium
dendrite growth and allow
for faster-moving ions
COOL TECH
Georgia Tech’s George W. Woodruff
School of Mechanical Engineering,
which conducted the battery research,
has almost 3,000 students, over 100
professors, and 70 members of staff.
Its research includes mechanics, robotics
and automation, thermal sciences, energy
systems, bioengineering, fluid mechanics,
nuclear and medical physics, acoustics,
tribology, design, manufacturing, and
machine learning.
In 2021, a study from researchers at
the Georgia Institute of Technology,
Notre Dame, University of California Los
Angeles, University of California Irvine,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the
Naval Research Laboratory observed
interfacial phonon modes which only
exist at the interface between silicon (Si)
and germanium (Ge). This demonstrated
experimentally that conventional theories
for interfacial heat transfer were proven
wrong and the inclusion of phonon modes
was warranted. The discovery opens up
new possibilities relating to engineering
thermal conductance at interfaces for
electronics cooling and other applications
where phonons are majority heat carriers
at material interfaces.
 RUBBER BATTERIES

4. Georgia Tech has

collaborated with SK
Innovation to research
and build next-generation
solid-state batteries

5. The rubber electrolyte

is easy to recycle as it is
made of non-toxic,
biodegradable materials

6. The team is looking at

mass-manufacturing its
battery breakthrough for
industrial applications

and investigating the large-scale

as a viable electrolyte for lithium batteries due
to its low ionic conductivity.
Researchers hypothesized that the 3D
structured rubber electrolyte could both utilize
rubber as an acceptable electrolyte material
and overcome the challenges of conventional
solid polymer electrolytes at the same time.
“We have selected conventional materials,
but it is an ‘unconventional’ material choice
for battery applications,” says Lee.
There are coarsening of plastic crystal
phases within elastomer (rubber) matrix.
These interconnected plastic-crystal phase can
act as an ion-conducting channel, described
much like a superhighway for ion movements.
The particular characteristics of the
material are flame retardancy, a high ionic
conductivity (>10-3 S/cm at room temperature),
and a good mechanical extensibility (~300%).
Plus, batteries with rubber electrolytes can be
operated at room temperature. There is also
mechanical robustness of rubber electrolytes
rated at >500 KJ/cm3. Toughness of rubber is
typically higher than 1 KJ/cm3.
6 for industrial applications.
There is no impediment to recycling of the
battery when using rubber electrolytes because
they are composed of non-toxic materials and
easy to decompose.
“Our rubber electrolytes were synthesized
from liquid precursor solution, which consists
of plastic crystal-Li salt-monomer (monomers
are small molecules that can gather/bond
together to form a polymer we know as
‘rubber’),” explains Lee. “When precursor
solutions were thermally polymerized,
monomer turns into polymer (rubber) and
the coarsening of plastic crystal phase was
suppressed by a rubber matrix, all of which
‘allows’ the formation of the 3D structured
rubber electrolyte. This formation process
of rubber electrolyte can be attributed to the
polymerization-induced phase separation.”
The future
Project member, associate professor Seung
Woo Lee, reveals the team is now modifying
the structure of the rubber electrolytes to
further improve the battery performance
manufacturing process of rubber electrolytes
Furthermore, global energy and
petrochemical company, SK Innovation, is
funding additional research as part of an
existing collaboration with the Institute to
build safe, next-generation solid-state batteries
and has announced construction of a new EV
battery plant in nearby Commerce, Georgia.
Kyounghwan Choi, director of SK
Innovation’s battery research center,
comments: “All-solid-state batteries can
dramatically increase the mileage and safety
of electric vehicles. Fast-growing battery
companies, including SK Innovation, believe
that commercializing all-solid-state batteries
will become a game changer in the electric
vehicle market.”
Solid-state electrodes have their advantages
and their challenges but, safety and
performance being paramount, refinement
and fresh ideas are always welcome to ensure
the batteries of the future work at their
optimum and contribute to the overall safety
of a vehicle. Georgia Tech’s innovative research
is already advancing the technology and will,
no doubt, continue to develop new ideas,
because research never sleeps.

“Commercializing all-solid-state
batteries will become a game changer
in the electric vehicle market
Kyounghwan Choi, director, SK Innovation battery research center

54 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 BATTERY RECYCLING

SECOND
LIFE
Scientists at Chalmers University of Technology
have developed a more sustainable and cost-
effective method for recovering materials
from electric vehicle batteries, aimed at
improving the business case for recycling
WORDS: ALEX GRANT

56 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 BATTERY RECYCLING

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www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 57

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 BATTERY RECYCLING

G
lobal demand for electric vehicles
has reached a tipping point.
Registrations doubled between 2019
and 2021, reaching 6.6 million units
according to the IEA, while battery
research is delivering longer ranges and faster
charging at an ever-lower cost. The outlook is
positive, but that growth also poses a looming
challenge; what happens to those vehicles and
their batteries when they reach the end of their
working lives?
Sustainability has already become a supply
chain priority for OEMs, and the European
Union has proposed tough targets too. From
2025, new lithium-ion battery packs –
including for electric vehicles – must be
at least 65% recyclable, rising to 70%
by the end of the decade.
Manufacturers will have to declare
recycled content from January
2027, with mandatory minimum
levels of recycled cobalt, lead,
lithium and nickel following three
years later.
Before volumes of end-of-life
vehicles begin to ramp up, researchers
at Chalmers University’s Department of
Chemistry and Chemical Engineering are
working to drive the financial and
environmental cost out of a recycling process
which can be both resource-heavy and a
struggle to turn a profit, as associate professor
Martina Petranikova explains.
“[The inefficiencies] are mostly in the
recovery of the electrolyte, this needs a lot
of improvement,” she describes. “Even though
some companies tell you they have recovery,
or there are facilities to recover it, they need
to be optimized to decrease chemical and
energy consumption.”
Petranikova’s research group has studied
recycling lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries
since 2014, prioritizing material recovery at the
high purity rate required for a second life in the
automotive industry. Facilities at Chalmers
enable third parties to work through the
full recycling chain, testing concepts
at anything from bench scale to a
pilot plant on site, with previous
research including supporting the
Volvo Cars and Northvolt ‘NyBat’
recycling pilot project.
Optimized recovery
Group expertise is focused on
hydrometallurgy, using a solution,
instead of the more energy-intensive
process of pyrometallurgy, using heat.
This latest study set out to optimize the
pre-treatment process, by examining how

“[The inefficiencies] are mostly

in the recovery of the electrolyte,
this needs a lot of improvement”
Martina Petranikova, associate professor, Chalmers University

1. The team has been researching

recycling li-ion EV batteries since 2014

2. The study focuses on hydrometallurgy,

1 using a solution, instead of
pyrometallurgy, using heat

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 59

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 BATTERY RECYCLING

3. Chalmers University
of Technology is located
in Gothenburg, Sweden
© Trygve - stock.adobe.com

different temperatures and timescales times were found to decrease the rate of cobalt
influence the subsequent recovery of and nickel recovery, as more complex
electrolyte materials in a solvent. structures and less leachable metal oxides
Discharged nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) began to form after 30 minutes.
cells, supplied by Volvo Cars, were cut and Significantly, the research also showed
ground for an hour to produce homogenous that the hydrometallurgical process could
particles of less than 75µm. Six-gram samples be carried out without needing to heat the
were then either incinerated or pyrolyzed at solution to 60-80°C (140-176°F). Materials were
a range of temperatures from 400°C (752°F) immersed in sulfuric acid for 180 minutes and
to 700°C (1,292°F) for 30, 60 or 90 minutes agitated at 300rpm by a magnetic stirrer, with
and then weighed. ten 100µL samples taken at progressively
“It was important for us to test both kinds of longer intervals from one minute to check the
thermal pre-treatment, but without additional yield. At room temperature, the optimized
heat for the [hydrometallurgical] leaching thermal pre-treatment resulted in full recovery
process,” Petranikova continues. “A lot of of lithium in two minutes, five for manganese
effects can be hidden in the heat provided to and ten for copper and nickel.
the leaching process. Then we could we see Fellow researcher at the department, Burçak
how the thermal pre-treatment could be Ebin, says this is vital for creating a business
optimized for the recovery of the metals.” case. “Leaching tanks are huge in industry,
As expected, the results favored nitrogen-
rich pyrolysis. Carbon dioxide, produced as
a result of oxygen flow during incineration,
reduced the catalyzing effect of the carbon and
led to oxidation of the copper and aluminum
foils, in turn reducing the purity of materials
extracted at the hydrometallurgical stage. NEW CHALLENGES FOR SOLID - STATE
Pyrolysis was shown to avoid this, with
a half-hour process at 700°C resulting in Variations in cell chemistry are already a challenge for battery
consistent carbothermic reduction of the recycling, and Petranikova hopes that the EU’s ‘battery passport’
metal oxides, which could then be leached regulations – which will require materials to be marked on the casing
at a high level of purity. Longer treatment from 2026 – will make it easier to identify what is inside. Especially
as solid-state technologies already under development could make that
variability even more prolific.
“We will get rid of the liquid electrolyte, which is the problem for the
recyclers [at the moment], but if you look what kind of materials are tested
and being developed for solid state batteries, you can see almost the whole
periodic table. [Today’s] recycling technologies are optimized to handle eight
to ten metals – when solid state batteries come in, it could be 20 or 25
metals. A lot of optimization will be needed in the future,” she says.
“I hope there will be a consensus on the chemistry used. A very large
variety of different metals – in a very low concentration for some of
them – is a problem for recycling. If you want to develop efficient
recycling processes that are also profitable, then you should
have enough valuable metals so that you can sell them when
you recover them.”

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 61

 BATTERY RECYCLING

4. EU proposals will require

90% of cobalt, copper, lead
and nickel, and 35% of
lithium to be recovered
from battery cells by 2025

5. Chalmers recently
conducted a joint project
to develop cells that can be
dismantled autonomously

4
5

with several tons of water,” he says. “Think
about the energy consumed by heating a kettle,
then imagine using that energy for tons of
water. It’s a huge amount of the energy, [so]
reducing the temperature to [the same as the]
environment can save a lot of energy.”
There are indirect energy savings, too.
Petranikova claims complementary studies
within the department have proved that
optimized thermal pre-treatment can enable
cobalt recovery without resource-heavy
hydrogen peroxide, and lithium at a state
where it’s leachable in pure water with only
a small amount of aluminum impurity.
It’s progress with a near-future need
as EU proposals will require 90% of
cobalt, copper, lead and nickel and
35% of lithium to be recovered by
2025. By 2030, that share rises to
95% and 70% respectively.
Choosing the right chemistry
However, optimization also
requires further cooperation with
suppliers. Chalmers recently
conducted a project with Nilar, a
Swedish company which is developing
nickel metal hydride battery cells designed
for easy, automated dismantling. The fragility
of lithium-ion cells makes automation harder,
Petranikova adds, and the chemistry varies
between cell manufacturers as they pursue
their own performance criteria. Better
labelling of the cathode materials, globally,
will be crucial.
Ebin says this variability also has to be
considered during production, if the business
case is going to stack up: “[Battery
manufacturers] have to think about the big
picture - they’re responsible for manufacturing
and recycling. When they make [the
chemistry] more complicated, the
recycling cost increases. When they
change something, the recycling
process changes, becomes more
expensive, and it’s not feasible.
So when they make the
manufacturing cheaper, they
make the recycling expensive.
It’s important to have a design for
recycling [and] to communicate
what we are doing now with the
manufacturers, so that they can
modify their batteries for recycling.”

“[Battery manufacturers] have

to think about the big picture -
they’re responsible for
manufacturing and recycling”
Burçak Ebin, researcher, Chalmers University

62 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE?
Start with reliable DAQ hardware.
 RESPONSIBLE SOURCING

64 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 RESPONSIBLE SOURCING

&
thi
pl
cy
s
E
sup
The raw materials within EV batteries
can originate in countries with poor
human rights and sustainability issues.
Moves are underway to ensure
the procurement process is not only
green but scrupulously ethical
WORDS: FRANK MILLARD

© promesaartstudio, RHJ - stock.adobe.com

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 65

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 RESPONSIBLE SOURCING

T
here are important non-commercial
considerations relating to the battery raw
materials supply chain that have to be taken into
account in procurement, the most pressing of
which are geopolitical and ethical.
Dr Nicholas Garrett, CEO of RCS Global Group explains,
“The reality is significant portions of known global supply
of critical minerals, and battery materials can be quite
concentrated. Indonesia is a majority nickel producer and
the lithium triangle in South America is a key lithium hub.
Even with exploration progressing this is unlikely to change
in the short- to medium-term.”
In the case of cobalt, there are profound ethical concerns
about its extraction in the Congo, which accounts for
around 60% of supply. However, a disengagement may not
be good for those in the region long term.
Around 60% of cobalt is produced in the DRC
(Democratic Republic of the Congo), 10-15% of which
originated at artisanal mining sites. However, the artisanal
mining sector is one of the few sources of employment,
providing a livelihood for more than 200,000 men and
women in the region. However, cobalt mines are commonly
mired with reported hazardous working conditions, child
labor and unfair trading practices says David Sturmes,
corporate engagement and strategic partnerships at the Fair
Cobalt Alliance: “While the global appetite for cobalt grows,
those who take the greatest risks in excavating the material
at its source often miss out on their share of the benefits.”
conditions are exactly the reason why we
should engage.
“We want to turn risk into opportunity
and show that by continuing to source from
artisanal mines in the DRC, demand and
buying behavior can drive engagement with
the supply chain and be a catalyst for further
investment,” Sturmes adds.
Many countries of origin have jurisdictional
risks and some are considered conflict-affected
and high-risk areas (CAHRAs) by the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD). Garrett believes that
rather than looking to diversify away from
these sources, the market should look to
engage on the ground comprehensively to
improve conditions, as people around the
world depend on the income brought through
battery metal supply chains.
“At RCS Global, we believe engagement
to drive systemic change is better than
disengagement. Clearly where
there is a wider geopolitical
context that prohibits safe
and secure operations

Engage not disengage

It is important not to shy away from DRC ASM as a result
of the scrutiny, Sturmes explains. “We understand why
companies may want to disengage and dissociate in
order to protect their reputation. However, why
put time, energy, resources into showing
they’re not related to these high risks
and negative effects when the
investment could be made in
driving positive change. At
the FCA, we believe
these detrimental
1. A partnership
between Volkswagen
Group and RCS has
made it possible to
identify 134
sub-suppliers and
18 mines of the
automaker’s battery
supply chains
1 promoting mineral supply chain responsible
GROUP EFFORT
BASF, a multi-national chemical company,
is involved in various international
initiatives to strengthen sustainability and
innovation in the value chain for batteries.
These include: Catena-X Automotive
Network, which is the alliance for secure
and cross-company data exchange in the
automotive industry aiming to improve
sustainability along the value chain; the
Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), an
industry initiative active in developing and
sourcing standards and management, as
well as ‘Cobalt for Development’ (C4D),
a cross-industry initiative that aims to
identify how to improve working conditions
in artisanal mines, as well as living
conditions in the surrounding communities
in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 67

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“Through our global audit practice,
we achieve supply chain transparency”
Dr Nicholas Garrett, CEO, RCS Global Group
then disengagement is the
only solution. But in many
cases, the market can be a critical
role in improving conditions for local mining
communities,” he adds.
RCS recently entered into a partnership
with Volkswagen Group to audit and trace
suppliers for conformance with human rights,
safe working conditions and environmental
protection along the supply chain all the way
back to the mine.
“Through our partnership, we have also
developed a system that tracks supplier
adherence to VW Group’s own internally
developed sustainability criteria,” says Garret.
“Under the cooperation we have identified
over 130 sub-suppliers and 18 mines in the
Volkswagen Group’s battery supply chains,
and the majority have already been audited.”
Passport control
Garrett believes the key to the responsible
supply of any material, including battery raw
materials, is transparency, traceability and
responsible practices verification.
“At RCS Global this is a central part of what
we do. Through our global audit practice,
we achieve supply chain transparency
for our clients, enabling them to
map their entire battery supply
chains and build up a
database of all their
suppliers and
RESPONSIBLE SOURCING
sub-suppliers,” he says. “On a general level, we are also
leading efforts to create a market-wide database of suppliers
in the battery raw material supply chain to create a clear
and comprehensive picture of the market overall and to
enable our clients to engage in cost effective risk based due
diligence and risk management, as is required under the EU
Battery Directive. Our VINE platform provides a
comprehensive picture of the battery supply chain –
mapping verified suppliers and their responsible sourcing
performance from those directly involved in EV
manufacturing right through to mine sites and recyclers,”
Garrett continues.
“A logbook for ethical sourcing should take
into account actions taken by supply chain
actors to engage and contribute to the
creation of responsible supply [from
the DRC in the case of cobalt], not
just document compliance of,
mainly industrial, mines
elsewhere in the
world. At the FCA,
2. RCS Global and
the United Nations
Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) are developing
a toolkit to prevent and
counteract child labor
in artisanal and
small-scale mining
communities in the DRC
2
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 69
 RESPONSIBLE SOURCING
we promote the notion of sector-wide
investment into improved working conditions.”
While blockchain might be a solution
offering complete cradle to grave identification
of the origins of every part of the battery, the
Global Battery Alliance (GBA) is actively
working on creating a battery passport with
a working group developing a prototype. The
work includes companies, governments and
NGOs from across the value chain. The initial
pilot version is being developed this year, and
the completed battery passport should be ready
for use by the end of 2022.
The GBA describes the Battery Passport as
a digital representation of a battery that
conveys information about all applicable ESG
(environmental, social and governance) and
lifecycle requirements based on a
comprehensive definition of a sustainable
battery. Each Battery Passport will be a digital
twin of its physical battery enabled by the
digital Battery Passport platform.
BASF is campaigning alongside GBA for
the Passport, intended to make social,
ecological and economic criteria transparent.
The passport will include technical and
organizational features that will ensure
transparency, verifiability and traceability
of data, across interfaces and transactions
along the battery value chain. Data
3. Engagement with collected will include, for example,
DRC ASM, rather than the origin of materials, social
disengagement, is
impacts, and disclosure of
important to improve
conditions and drive greenhouse gas
systematic change emissions. The
70 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
passport will also identify information on the battery’s
end-of-life application history and reuse.
There is inherent value in recycling and efforts put
into further developing existing recycling technology is
commendable, but it is generally foreseen that cobalt
demand will far exceed the amount of cobalt available
through recycling schemes. Cobalt demand is not going
to go away, however, although sources of cobalt are
restricted, there are other producers on the horizon such
as Russia, Australia, the Philippines and Cuba.
Apart from cobalt-free lithium battery options, there are
a growing number of new cell chemistries being developed,
such as sodium-ion technology, which would reduce some
of the pressures on cobalt supply.
The battery passport is a start, but it alone is not
a silver bullet long term. The collective effort of
automakers, battery manufacturers,
academics and legislators in trying to
solve procurement issues globally
will avoid the electric vehicle
movement hiding any
ethical impurities
under the supply
chain carpet.
 CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE

In the UK, Europe and US, there’s no

shortage of new electric vehicles hitting
the market as countries phase out ICE
ahead of looming zero-emission deadlines.
But will national charging networks be
sufficient to match demand by the time
mass adoption comes around?
WORDS: JOHN CHALLEN

72 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE

The state of
CHARGE
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www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 73

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W
ith the current unstable and extortionate
state of the oil market, governments and
consumers alike are looking to ditch
gasoline and diesel faster than ever for
plug-in electric power. However, the raw
fact with the transition to electric vehicles is that there is
simply not enough public chargepoints at this current time.
Until battery chemistries undergo a step change in
performance to deliver ranges way beyond 300 miles on a
single charge, consumers will (despite average daily driving
distances only being around 20-30 miles) want the comfort
of knowing they can recharge just as conveniently and
quickly as they can refi ll their ICE car.
A reliable and efficient charging infrastructure is the
target. At the moment, some national networks fall short.
In the case of the UK, the industry has been caught out by
a sharp increase in demand for EVs. As a result, many
infrastructure providers have been scrambling to get sites
up and running and to work out the future requirements
for the county.
Earlier in 2022, the UK government announced plans to
bring the number of public charging points to 300,000 by
2030. That would represent a five-fold increase on the
number of fuel pumps currently around the country. The
government says it is aiming for a network that is “robust,
fair and covers the entire country” and it also aims to
improve the consumer experience at all charge points.
Specifically, that means more support for those EV drivers
without access to off-street parking as well as more
emphasis on fast charging for longer journeys.
Overall, the strategy is supported by a US$1.97bn
investment in charging infrastructure that was pledged in
part when the government announced its intention to ban
1. 3ti’s solar-powered pop-up charging station
can be installed in just nine hours without the
need for existing infrastructure
2. In the UK nearly US$2bn is being allocated to
support the development of its EV charging network,
while in the US, it is spending close to US$7.5bn
2 www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 75
CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE
POP - UP AND PLUG - IN
It’s clear that there will be no one-solution-fits-all to the charging
conundrum for EVs, nor will all of the solutions be conventional,
fixed charging stations. One company that has an alternative to
the norm is 3ti, a designer, installer, funder and operator of Solar
Car Parks (SCPs), designed for roll-out at workplaces and public
destinations such as hospitals, hotels, meeting venues, sports or
shopping centers, tourist attractions and town centers.
The company’s Papilio3 claims to be the world’s first pop-up mini
solar car park and electric vehicle charging hub. Deployable in as
little as nine hours, the units are built from a recycled shipping
container and can support up to 12 charge points. Featuring a solar
and battery-boosted charging system, Papilio3 optimizes the speed
of charge and reduces the carbon intensity of electricity used. 3ti
has set Papilio3 up as a rental agreement, which means no capital
investment by customers and less risk and hassle in establishing a
charging solution.
“Overnight charging at home generally provides the most cost
effective, carbon efficient, sustainable form of EV charging,” says
explains Tim Evans, 3ti’s founder and CEO. “But in the UK, around
50% of households will not be able to do this.
“We believe that solar and battery boosted destination and
workplace charging will become the best EV charging solution for
drivers, irrespective of the type of home they live in,” he continues.
“By utilizing dwell times of several hours, when cars are parked at
work or when the driver is visiting a shopping or leisure venue, for
example, 3ti’s system ensures that EVs can achieve a level of charge
that covers day to day driving needs and does it in the most low
carbon way.”
Papilio3 is fitted with three modular canopies that support 36
solar panels and has battery storage capacity of up to 250kWh.
Each unit offers sheltered, illuminated and secure parking, plus
a convenient, available and reliable EV charging experience that
supports a mixture of 7, 11 and 22 kilowatts.
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3 road network by 2025
new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030. Within that funding
is a US$615m investment to bring high-quality,
competitively priced public charge points to communities
across the UK. This includes a new US$554m Local Electric
Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund for local authorities
to use to expand charge point provision in their area.
The other US$61m will be used to fund staff to work
on local challenges and public charge point planning.
Meanwhile, the existing US$1.14bn Rapid Charging
Fund will support the rollout of at least 6,000
high-powered super-fast charge points across
England’s highways by 2035, bringing access to rapid
and ultra-rapid public chargers.
Charging providers have been quick to react to
the need to improve infrastructure – for example
bp Pulse, which announced a US$1.23bn investment
in ultra-fast charging. Chargepoint operators have
already committed to installing an additional 15,000
CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE
3. Chargepoint operators
have committed to
quadrupling the current
number of rapid charge
points across England’s
“When innovation and collaboration come
together, we can collectively contribute to
mitigating the impacts of climate change”
Frank Muehlon, CEO, ABB E-mobility
rapid charge points across England’s entire road
network – a quadrupling of the current offer – and
over 100,000 on-street charge points by 2025.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany is to benefit from
the world’s fastest EV charger network, thanks to
ABB and Shell. The duo recently announced their
intention to launch a nationwide network of Terra
360, which claims to be the world’s fastest all-in-one
electric car charger. With a maximum output of
360kW it can fully charge an EV in 15 minutes.
In total, more than 200 Terra 360 chargers will be
introduced across Germany by the middle of 2023. As a
result, more than 1.7 million EV drivers will benefit from
improved charger availability and speed. The Terra 360
is available in different configurations that can charge
multiple vehicles simultaneously. Its modular design
ensures peak utilization of the charging station with
dynamic power distribution.
“As a global leader in EV charging infrastructure,
we believe in the power of together,” says Frank Muehlon,
CEO of ABB E-mobility. “When innovation and
collaboration come together, we can collectively contribute
to mitigating the impacts of climate change and enable
a lower carbon society.”
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 77
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 CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE

The challenges of convenience 4. The Gridserve Electric

Highway is a national public
Getting the balance between rapid charging hubs next to, charging infrastructure
or near, the main routes around the UK and servicing those covering 85% of the UK’s
in more remote locations will not be easy. highway service areas
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders 5. High power electric
(SMMT) believes that a lot of the efforts should be a focus Super Hubs are capable
on expanding public on-street as well as destination of adding up to 100
miles of range in less
charging provision. than 10 minutes
“Every stakeholder will have to play their part in this
transition but, if industry and consumers are to have the
certainty they need to invest, commensurate and binding
targets must be set for infrastructure provision,” says Mike
Hawes, chief executive of SMMT. “Deployed nationally and
at pace, this expansion would give drivers confidence they
will be able to charge as easily as they would refuel,
wherever they are.”
In its feedback, the country’s Automobile
Association (AA) agreed the Government does
appear to recognize that ease of use,
reliability, quick roll-out for those without
home charging and improving charging on
highways, are all essential.
“We would like to see urgent action in
all of these areas, plus we have also called
for more focus on charging solutions in
rural locations, improvements to the
customer experience in terms of safety at
5
charge points in dark, isolated areas and
accessibility for disabled drivers,” states AA 4
president Edmund King.
The American way
Although electric vehicle sales in the United States have
climbed by more than 40% each year, on average, since 2016,
nearly half of US consumers say that battery or charging
issues are their top concerns about buying EVs. It’s no
stretch to say that the nation’s limited network of charging
stations probably discourages many prospective buyers.
In the US, a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is
providing US$7.5bn to develop the country’s EV charging
infrastructure. If successful, the result will see the
installation of 500,000 public chargers around the country
by 2030. In a country where nearly one-fifth of all
greenhouse gases are emitted by cars and trucks, the shift
to electric vehicles is vital. Big moves on the vehicle side
have already been made by the likes of Ford, which has
electrified many of its core vehicles including the nation’s

“Deployed nationally and at pace, this

expansion would give drivers confidence
they will be able to charge as easily as they
would refuel, wherever they are”
Mike Hawes, chief executive, SMMT

www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 79

 CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE

6 and 7. Solutions to
provide charging to EV
drivers without off -street
parking include converting
lamp posts such as those
developed by Shell

best-selling vehicle, the F-150.

However, when it comes to the
7
means to charge them, many already
believe that the half a million chargepoints will fall
short of what will be required in the future. Research by
McKinsey estimates that even the addition of half a million
public chargers could be far from enough. Like the UK, the
US has a 2030 deadline, albeit not as advanced when it
6 comes to alternative powertrains. At that point, federal
targets have been set for a 50% ZEV share. By then,
McKinsey estimates the country would need 1.2 million
public EV chargers and 28 million private EV chargers. That
means a 20-fold increase on what is currently available.
At the time of going to press the Biden-Harris
administration issued an update on where the National
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program is, including
the establishment of a federal Advisory Committee (the EV
Working Group). It also revealed that the Department of
Energy will invest US$45m in developing fast-charging
batteries to complement the charging network. The
installation of EV chargers in ‘multi-family rental housing’
is also being investigated, while an initial US$500m has
been earmarked for establishing charging networks for new
battery powered school buses.
Finally, leading by example, 20 chargers have been
installed by the Department for Defense for government
fleet vehicles at the Pentagon and another group has been
set up, tasked with removing barriers to installing EV
charging infrastructure around the country.

80 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

Discover how to build
a country-wide electric
vehicle charging network
in record time!
London County Hall
5 – 6 September 2022

The UK Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

Symposium will bring together local authorities, car park operators,
energy providers, car manufacturers and forecourt operators to
discuss, debate and present solutions to electrifying the entire
country in a handful of years.

Expert Speakers Include

Join speakers from companies including bp pulse, SSE Enterprise,
OZEV at DfT, Connected Placed Catapult, Low Carbon Vehicle
Partnership (ZEMO), Black Country Transport and more! Co-located with The UK CAV
Infrastructure Symposium, a
conference that is dedicated to
helping ensure Britain is ready
Interested in exhibiting? to accommodate the current and
ever-growing influx of electric-only
Ed Marshall | Event Director vehicles. Delegates will be able to
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Buy your delegate pass online at ukevinfrastructure.com

 EV CHARGING SYMPOSIUM PREVIEW
Taking
charge
Tell us how OZEV is working on supporting the
UK’s shift to electrification?
At OZEV, our role is making sure we can support and
intervene where needed, ensuring the UK has the right
infrastructure in the right places to support the transition
to electric vehicles. This can be in the form of grants,
infrastructure, and also innovation.
One aspect of this is home charging, where the majority
of EV owners perform their charging. This can apply to
those who charge on the driveway or garage, but also for
those without off-street parking. Our job is to understand
what infrastructure is required to make sure their needs are
met. For everyone, though, there are long distance journeys
that will be driven so we need to make sure there is enough
charging infrastructure on motorways and major roads to
support this and make EV owners’ journeys worry-free.
To help meet the UK’s charging infrastructure
goals, what efforts are you looking for from local
authorities and network providers?
Local authorities are already doing a lot of work in this
space. They have set a really great precedent for
determining where charging provision is needed in their
areas. Many have their own strategies that identify what is
needed and delivery plans, which is happening at both a
district and council level, as well as regional level which is
really fantastic to see. Collaboration across these levels and
different local authorities is going to be essential. We are
able to help authorities to achieve their goals and to make
82 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
Pantone 186C
Pantone 280C
White
Uni sans regular/black
Uni sans bold/black
UNI SANS REGULAR /WHITE CAPS
Uni sans regular italic/black
sure best practices are being shared across local authorities.
Local authorities are so important as they own the
highways, so it’s within their remit to install infrastructure,
particularly for those without off-street parking, which is
the case across urban and rural areas. In our infrastructure
strategy document we set out what the roles and
responsibilities are for local authorities at different levels
across the country.
Of course, network providers are also key stakeholders.
OZEV has expectations for the market and will offer ways
to support how they work with local authorities and
network distribution providers.
Has there been one particular challenging aspect
of this infrastructure project?
One thing that has been an interesting challenge is
understanding what charging provision is required for
those without off-street parking. Understandably, there are
fewer EV owners who don’t have off-street parking,
therefore there is a small sample size of data on how they
charge their vehicles. We need to know if they are charging
at public bays near their house, or at work, at the
supermarket, as well as rapid charging at petrol stations etc.
The key challenge is understanding the different
advantages and disadvantages of those different charging
options are – both from a driver perspective and for the
energy system. We are really keen to get the approach right
to support where it is required for a future that has
consumers at the heart.

The UK Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
Symposium will take place in London’s County Hall
from 5-6 September 2022, featuring handpicked
exhibitors, local authorities, energy providers,
car manufacturers, and more to discuss, debate
and present solutions to electrifying the UK
Q&A with...Sophie Lyons
Head of infrastructure strategy, Office for Zero Emission Vehicles,
Department for Transport – DfT
Have there been any bottlenecks encountered with
the rollout of charging points?
There are a couple key bottlenecks we see as being key to
the rollout happening at the pace it needs. One is related
to planning processes such as regulations, permissions and
measures put in place. This also relates to land rates, and
how the interactions between installers and landowners
work. There is also the issue of new connections required
on the grid for all new charging infrastructure. These come
with the question of whether new cables are required or if
local enforcements are needed to support them.
Some good progress has been made on these issues,
including roundtables that have taken place with industry
to try to identify some solutions. We are currently working
to find the best ways to address these issues from a
regulatory angle, such as application for planning or
working with Ofgem to strike the right balance for forward
planning and making sure network operators have the tools
they need and are sharing best practices.
How is the government working with energy
companies to ensure a reliable and robust network?
We’re in constant liaison with Ofgem, distribution network
operators, as well as the wider energy sector about this
challenge. Overall, the EV transition presents more of an
opportunity than a challenge due to the huge potential EV
could offer in terms of energy storage and flexibility for the
electricity system. While the overall number of kilowatt
hours needed for the electricity system to supply will be
EV CHARGING SYMPOSIUM PREVIEW
© Mistervlad/jovannig - stock.adobe.com
increasing, battery based vehicles offer a big storage
capacity for the grid to use. The key thing is making sure
we are able to unlock that potential. This is why home
charging is such an attractive option, not just from a user
perspective, but from a system perspective. We’ve laid
regulations on smart charging to maximize this. Owners
will plug in their vehicle overnight at home where the
battery can then be used flexibly, all the while the vehicle is
getting the charge it needs but done at times more
compatible with other loads on the grid, making the most
of cheaper off-peak electricity.
How do you see the UK Electric and Hybrid
Charging Infrastructure Symposium helping?
Collaboration and idea sharing is extremely important.
The symposium is ideal for bringing together as many
stakeholders as possible to share the challenges they are
facing and coming up with solutions together, rather than
us all working individually in silos.
We will be revealing the government’s vision for electric
vehicle charging, and what the action plan is to achieve it.
Also, we will share key actions for other stakeholders.
Register NOW!
Book your pass for The UK Electric & Hybrid Charging Infrastructure
Symposium at County Hall, London, online at www.ukevinfrastructure.com
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 83
 W
EV LIGHTWEIGHTING

Reducing the weight of an electric

vehicle pays off with improved range
and reduced costs, but beyond the bulky
battery what other ways can OEMs and
suppliers look to shed vital pounds?
WORDS: HELEN NORMAN

F
or an electric vehicle, efficiency is king. Reducing
the weight of the vehicle by 10% can see range
increase by up to 8%. Therefore, the quest to shed
pounds and kilograms is a priority for OEMs and
suppliers. The battery is the biggest contributor
of kerb weight but there are also some smarter places to
lighten the load.
In September 2021 Lotus unveiled the result of a
year-long project exploring lightweight electric vehicle
architecture (LEVA). The aim of the project was to
accelerate the development of new lightweight structures
for next-generation sports car battery EVs. The result was
a lightweight chassis technology, which will be integrated
into Lotus’s new E-Sports chassis that will underpin an
electric sports car which is due for launch in 2026.
According to Richard Rackham, head of vehicle concepts
at Lotus, who also led Project LEVA, the new chassis, and
Project LEVA in general, is as revolutionary now as the
Lotus Elise architecture was back in the mid-1990s. Back
then, the Elise introduced a range of technologies, such as
a chassis made from extruded and bonded aluminum, a
composite energy absorbing front crash structure and
lightweight composite body panels, which revolutionized
the automotive industry.
The Project LEVA chassis goes further and achieves
significant weight savings throughout. Ultimate
performance, efficiency and safety were engineered into the
chassis from the outset, for example, by utilizing the vehicle
structure as the battery enclosure, having an integrated
electric drive unit (EDU), eliminating bolt-on subframes,
and optimizing the multi-link suspension components.

84 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

WEKE
EV LIGHTWEIGHTING

RB
IGH TH
E
T
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 85
 EV LIGHTWEIGHTING
“The new electric sports car which is due for
launch in 2026 is known only by the codename
Lotus Type 135 at the moment, though it will
receive a model name closer to launch,”
explains Mark Stringer, commercial director at
Lotus Engineering – the consultancy division
of Lotus. “In the field of lightweighting, the
innovation is clear – the rear structure of the
chassis is 37% lighter than it is on the Lotus
Emira V6 [thanks to Project LEVA]. It means
Lotus now has the blueprint for the next
generation of electric sports cars.”
The new lightweight chassis technology
is fully adaptable, according to Stringer, and
provides a platform for a range of EVs with
variable layouts, wheelbase lengths, battery
sizes and configurations. In essence, it means
a single vehicle architecture can accommodate
two different types of battery layouts: a slab
– where the modules are integrated
horizontally under the cabin – or chest type
where the modules are stacked vertically
behind the two seats.
In addition, the new modular battery
features cylindrical cells for high energy
density, with the option of a single or twin
EDU to support. Furthermore, cold cure,
spot bonding, and advanced weld processes
“Lotus now has the blueprint
for the next generation of
electric sports cars”
Mark Stringer, commercial director, Lotus Engineering
86 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
contribute to reduced environmental impact 1. From 2023, all Lotus
during assembly. vehicles produced will be
electric, including a
“Because of the comparatively low lightweight sports car in
temperatures generated by the propulsion 2026, called the Type 135
elements of the powertrain, we have been able
2. Inside the Volvo Concept
to maximize the amount of aluminum used in Recharge, Bcomp’s natural
the structure,” Stringer continues. “Expanding fiber composites are used,
upon Lotus’ extensive knowledge of aluminum and will be integrated into
interior panels of the
bonded structures, while utilizing modern upcoming Polestar 5
adhesives and bonding techniques, has further
increased the weight savings. Furthermore, the
direct-mounted propulsion systems mean we
avoid duplication of supporting structures and
can remove sub-frames.”
Looking at how the new chassis was tested,
Stringer continues, “Through efficient use of
materials and identification of load paths for
the regulatory crash testing requirements, we
efficiently directed crash loads throughout the
optimized structure. Using an iterative design
process allowed us to refine the concept
beyond simply meeting minimum
requirements. With our partner Sarginsons,
we developed a digital twin for the casting
element to accurately reflect the real material
properties in a digital environment.”
So far, Project LEVA has
publicly revealed its work 1

STICKING POINTS
More and more, EV auto makers are
using lower weight materials such as
performance plastics, aluminum, high
strength steel, carbon fiber, and stainless
steel for body structures and panels,
according to DuPont’s global technology
leader Andreas Lutz. “Historically these
substrates have been difficult to bond to
each other,” he says.
“Adhesive technology has come a
long way in enabling the design of safe,
durable, and lightweight bonded body
structures along with bonded roof, door,
hood, decklid, and liftgate panels,” Lutz
continues. “Our specially toughened epoxy
resin-based adhesive solutions offer
best-in-class joint durability. OEMs also
work on minimizing the package space and
components of the battery to improve
energy density and reduce weight,
trusting adhesives to enable this trend.”
DuPont works with many global OEMs
and suppliers, such as Audi, GM, Renault,
Volkswagen, and NIO, among others, and
supplies a range of structural, crash-
durable, and multi-material adhesives,
along with direct glazing, battery
sealing, assembly adhesives, and thermal
management solutions.
The firm is currently working on a new
US$30m facility at the Zhangjiagang Free
Trade Zone in China to produce a range
of materials to advance applications
for electrification and light weighting
in support of growing demand for its
automotive adhesives.
Adhesive solutions to be developed at
the new facility, which is due to open in
early 2023, include DuPont’s BETAMAT
structural adhesives and BETAFORCE
multi-material bonding adhesives. Both
adhesives can help enable the design and
assembly of lightweight body structures
and battery packs, according to DuPont.
“Adhesives can reduce or eliminate the
need for metal fasteners by creating
a continuous bond between assembled
components,” Lutz explains. “The
adhesives also help enable the use of
lighter weight materials like aluminum,
carbon fiber, performance plastics, high
strength steel and even stainless steel.”
on the propulsion installation and rear end
structure of the E-Sports chassis. “We also
have a team of engineers working on similarly
innovative solutions on the other areas of the
overall vehicle architecture, which we will
share in the future,” Stringer adds.
Carbon fiber wheels
The chassis isn’t the only thing automotive
firms are working on to reduce weight. British
wheel designer and manufacturer Dymag
develops carbon fiber composite wheels, which
the company claims can be more than 50%
lighter than a traditional alloy, while being
stronger and more durable. For EVs, wheels of
this kind can make a huge difference in terms
of operational performance and range.
Dymag CEO, Tom De Lange, explains more,
“Wheels made using carbon fiber as a key
component bring advantages in terms of
reduced unsprung mass but also a reduced
moment of inertia, with less energy required to
accelerate and brake. Another dynamic benefit
is a reduced gyroscopic force thanks to the
lightness of the rim itself, which means less
steering effort is required.
“The step-change four-corner weight saving
potentially brings range improvements for EVs
of around 5%, while carbon fiber’s flexibility
can also benefit NVH too – a huge boon for any
engineer developing an EV where the ICE is no
longer masking unwanted noises,” he adds.
3. Tom De Lange, CEO, Dymag
4. Carbon fiber composite
wheels can be 50% lighter than
a traditional alloy, while being
stronger and more durable
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 87
EV LIGHTWEIGHTING
By opting for a hybrid construction with a
carbon fiber rim and metallic centerpiece,
Dymag utilizes carbon fiber in the areas that
have the most impact on the inertia of the
wheel, while using high strength forged
aluminum or magnesium in the spokes where
carbon is less optimal due to the compressive
forces experienced during normal operation
and particularly under impact.
Dymag’s wheels feature a patented flange
structure, which creates closed sections on
both the inboard and outboard tire seats,
considerably increasing impact and fatigue
resistance while making the wheels stiffer for
handling. “Our lay-up is also designed to
spread impact energy around the rim and
ensure much safer failure modes than
metallic rims,” adds De Lange.
“The closed section flange structures also
allow for a very weight-efficient design,” he
continues. “We also utilize the latest RTM
resin systems whose chemistry gives very
high impact resistance while maintaining a
high glass transition temperature and excellent
UV stability.”
According to De Lange, Dymag is currently
in the middle of several confidential projects
on both mainstream BEV and hydrogen-
powered vehicles, which will be “revealed in
the coming months,” he notes. The company
is also exploring other ways wheels can be
made lighter.
4
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5. Lotus’ Lightweight
Electric Vehicle
Architecture (LEVA) comes
in multiple wheelbase sizes
and configurations for
diff erent battery pack
designs and e-motors
5 round with US$35m, with investors including
“For interior parts our ampliTex and powerRibs
solutions enable weight savings of up to 50%,
generate around 60% less CO2 emissions”
Per Mårtensson, CSO, Bcomp
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 89
EV LIGHTWEIGHTING
“More advanced resin systems are
continuing to allow us to reduce the number
of layers of carbon and thus the overall weight
of our wheels,” De Lange explains. “We are also
increasingly using forged magnesium rather
than aluminum which enables a total mass
reduction of between 10-15% depending on
the application.”
Natural fibers
OEMs and suppliers are also looking to reduce
the weight of some of the smaller components
that make up an EV, such as fabrics, battery
casings, and even adhesives.
Sustainable light weighting solutions
provider Bcomp is one firm leading the way in
the lightweight fabrics sector. The company,
which in April closed its Series B financing
BMW i Ventures, Volvo Cars Tech Fund and
Porsche Ventures, is currently looking to grow
its team and scale the business to a global
commercial and production footprint.
Its solutions are both lightweight and
sustainable. Its ampliTex flax fiber fabrics and
the powerRibs reinforcement grid are made
from renewable flax fibers – a raw material
with a negative carbon footprint from cradle
to gate.
“These solutions can be used in different
applications on both the in and outside of an
EV,” explains Per Mårtensson, Bcomp’s CSO.
“Typical parts would be bumpers and other
body panels, or interior parts such as door
panels, seat backs, and instrument panels.
For interior parts our ampliTex and powerRibs
solutions enable weight savings of up to 50%,
generate around 60% less CO2 emissions from
cradle to gate and allow to reduce the use of
plastic by up to 70% through
dematerialization,” he adds.
In the area of bodywork, Bcomp’s solutions
have been racing in multiple series, including
F1 and GT4. One of Bcomp’s most notable
recent partners is Volvo Cars. “We first worked
with Volvo in 2018 for the Volvo Ocean Race
recycled plastics demonstrator vehicle,
 EV LIGHTWEIGHTING

followed by its most recent concept car, the
Volvo Cars Concept Recharge in 2021,” explains
Mårtensson. “Inside the Concept Recharge,
Volvo Cars has used Bcomp’s natural fiber
composites for the lower storage areas, back
of the headrest and the footrest. For the
exterior, it is used for the front and rear
bumpers as well as the sill mouldings.
“Furthermore, Volvo Cars’ strategic affi liate
Polestar aims to adopt Bcomp materials for
most of the interior panels of the Polestar 5,
the production evolution of the Polestar
Precept, which is expected to be launched in
2024,” he adds.
Composite components
Meanwhile, German specialty chemicals
company Lanxess has been working on light
weighting solutions for decades. It’s Tepex high
performance composite laminate system is
made with thermoplastic polymers and is ideal
for designing lightweight and high load
bearing applications for EV components,
according to Julian Haspel, head of
e-powertrain at Lanxess’s High Performance
Materials business unit.
The company is now working on a new
technology, which Haspel notes is ideal for
“highly loaded structural applications.”
Lanxess is currently in the process of
launching the hollow-profi le hybrid technology
on the market.
Haspel explains more, “With this new
lightweight design technology, metallic hollow
profi les can be functionalized on conventional
injection molding machines with plastic
compounds. The result is plastic-metal
composite components that boast far greater
torsional stiff ness and strength than could
previously be achieved with other
technologies for functionalizing
hollow profi les.”
According to Haspel, the
potential applications for
this new solution in the
EV sector include cross
car beams, coupling rods,
stabilizers, and seat
elements. “We examined
how using the
compounds pays off in the
design of an automotive
cross car beam,” Haspel continues. “The
component can be designed with up to 30%
less weight than an all-steel structure while
offering better mechanical performance in
some respects.”
Haspel believes that to achieve ultimate light
weighting in EVs, manufacturers need to
consider all components from the start of the
design process. “Typically, we can demonstrate
the full potential of engineering plastics when
we are part of the design process in a very early
stage,” he says. “Often, functional integration
leads to fewer parts. And fewer parts mean a
less complex supply chain and a shorter bill
of materials.”
Lanxess is also working with
Tier-1 supplier Kautex Textron
to develop a fully plastic
high voltage battery
enclosure, which has a
weight “in the mid-
double-digit kilogram
range,” offers cost
reductions and better
electrical insulation
behavior, Haspel notes.

“The component can be designed with 7

up to 30% less weight than an

all-steel structure while
offering better mechanical
performance”
Julian Haspel, head of e-powertrain,
Lanxess High Performance
Materials business unit

6. Lanxess has developed

a plastic-metal composite ideal for
highly loaded structural applications

7. Looking at engineering plastics at

the early stages of a vehicle’s design
can save weight, cost and time

8. OEMs can save weight by replacing

metal with plastic for components
6 such as brackets 8

90 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 Moving You to Production,
Faster and Easier.

Dana’s OpenECU™ products enable reliable,

efficient and fast embedded controls development
for a range of applications. It is a simple and
cost-effective solution supporting prototype
development and production deployment.

Visit Dana.com/openecu to learn more about

how Dana is leading the charge in electrification.
© 2022 Dana Limited. All rights reserved.
 MERCEDES-BENZ TESTING

TRA
BACK ON

Covid de
-railed w
OEMs, n inter tes
ow Merc ting plan
line-up e des-Ben s and sc
of electr z is back hedules
ic vehicle in Swed for man
compan s to the ic en t a k i n y
y and its e g its late
e n gineers for a test pro st
WORDS:
KYLE FO claim is g ra m t h
RTUNE the mos e
t excitin
g yet

92 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 MERCEDES-BENZ TESTING

ACK
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 93
 MERCEDES-BENZ TESTING

SOUND EQUALIZER
The lack of masking noise from an
internal combustion engine has meant
additional work for the NVH team,
with both EQS and EQE vehicles
featuring sound dampening solutions
such as foam-filled body cavities,
foam within the tires and double-
glazed glass to maintain serenity.
Starzynski explains that working from
the basis as a luxury manufacturer
was advantageous here, but
regardless, BEVs present unique
challenges in relation to NVH. “Every
part of the car has the ability to make
its own frequency,” he states.
Enzmann and Starzynski are
visibly buoyed by the opportunities
that electric propulsion allows in
relation to maintaining progress
and controlling the dynamics, both
taking great pleasure in developing
cars that have range as their ultimate
goal, but are also able to deliver an
engaging, enjoyable drive. That might
be a by-product of the electrification
of Mercedes-Benz’s model line-up,
but one that its engineers are clearly
driven by as they take on the brave
new world of electrification.

F
or Christoph Starzynski, vice president of electric
vehicle architecture and head of Mercedes-EQ,
being back in Arjeplog, Sweden, has been a long
time coming. This is where Mercedes-Benz winter
testing program takes place, and it’s the first time
Starzynski’s been here in two years due to the global Covid
pandemic preventing people from physically attending.
All Mercedes-Benz cars go through the company’s usual
testing of at least two winters and two summers, and
Starzynski is on the ground to witness the battery electric
EQE coming to the end of that. There’s a real buzz among
all the Mercedes-Benz engineers on this test program. As
well as the EQE, the EQS SUV is being tested here along
with the next GLC with its internal combustion, mild-
hybrid drivetrain.
It’s not just the fact that the engineers are physically able
to be here, but as Starzynski explains, for the EQ model
development, it’s the culmination of many years of new
thinking, creativity and innovation, that’s been
instrumental in not just changing the company’s direction
for future mobility, but how the company itself works.
“We had no boundaries at the beginning, but we didn’t
have a baseline, so in this case we had to re-learn the car
again. It’s a completely new car with no predecessor so we
are learning new things with packaging, crash behavior and
more. The design process was the most exciting thing in my
whole career because you really could, together with
Gorden’s [Wagener, chief design officer Mercedes-Benz]
team, have freedom,” he reveals.
“We changed the way of working and wanted to do things
a bit differently, using agile teams with less hierarchy. With
so many new innovations, we had stakeholders within agile
teams and we did sprint reviews, like you’d do in a software
industry. We even had an arena as a workspace with a huge
space with no fi xed desks and benches. We did reviews
there [from 2017-Covid] where even the board came in. It
has changed how we worked as a company. It was fantastic
seeing the interaction, and the creativity.”

94 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com


Accelerating research
That sentiment is echoed by
Holger Enzmann, head of overall
vehicle development EQS SUV, who says
he’s never enjoyed his work more than he does now. “It’s
immensely satisfying. Back in 2015, at the beginning, we
were a small group, a lot of people didn’t think it was the
right way, now that’s changed 180 degrees.”
That team working on EV specific architecture that
underpins the EQS, EQE and EQS SUV was a core of just 50
people, now the entire company is involved. That shift has
been seismic. In July 2021 Mercedes-Benz announced that
all newly launched architectures from 2025 will be electric
only. “Back in 2017, nobody would have known that the
board and CEO would say we’re going entirely electric,”
reveals Starzynski.
To facilitate that shift, Mercedes-Benz is undertaking a
comprehensive plan to accelerate research and
development, with investment in battery electric vehicles
MERCEDES-BENZ TESTING
“Back in 2017, nobody would have
known that the board and CEO would
say we’re going entirely electric”
Christoph Starzynski, VP of electric vehicle architecture, head of Mercedes-EQ
between 2022 and 2030 amounting to over US$42bn 1. The testing program for
(€40bn). The EQE and EQS SUV are just the beginning the Mercedes-Benz EQS
SUV, EQS and EQE has
of the story, with more to come. returned to Sweden for
Unlike some EV rivals Mercedes-Benz’s position as the first time in two years
a legacy manufacturer means this brave new world is following relocation to
Germany as a result of
approached using the same tried and tested testing. Covid restrictions
“We undertake two testing seasons in summer, two
in winter, we use cold chambers to drop to -25ºC [-13ºF],
the testing procedures are the same whether it’s EV or ICE,”
says Enzmann.
“ESP and safety systems are tested here and there’s high
effort testing for the HVAC systems. The procedures are
nearly the same, the goals are nearly the same, the cars need
to work down to -25 to -30ºC [-13 to -22ºF], we need the
BEVs to work in Sweden as well as Los Angeles.”
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 95
 MERCEDES-BENZ TESTING

“With fine tuning we can manage
the torque on wheel 160 times per
second, 10,000 times per minute”
Holger Enzmann, head of overall vehicle development, EQS SUV
2. The EQS SUV employs Enzemann is also overseeing the development of the
the same 12 module, Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 prototype, with 400kW output,
107kWH battery as
the EQS sedan and comes 858Nm of torque and rated voltage of 396 Volts. That gives
with off -road drive modes a potential range of between 315-380 miles (507-613km) for
this configuration, with some achieving a WLTP range of
3. Winter testing ensures
cars are able to work in as much as 410 miles (660km). There are two motors, one
temperatures as low per axle, with the front motor able to recuperate as much
as -30ºC [-22ºF] as 70% of braking energy.
The EQS SUV uses the same 12 module, 107kWh battery
as the EQS sedan, however Enzmann reveals “we could
use the smaller battery, it’s feasible, but it’s not decided.
With a vehicle this size, customers will expect the range
and this means the bigger one.”
Germany due to Covid, with travel now possible the more
usual testing schedule is being undertaken in Arjeplog. The
EQS SUV will have also been tested in Austria, Finland,
France, Spain, Italy, Dubai, South Africa, USA, Mexico,
China and Japan. There’s even a team of undertaking dune
driving in Arizona. Enzmann admits that the SUV wasn’t
designed with off-roading in mind, but it’s proved so
capable that they’ve added off-road specific modes within
the drive systems.
“We are amazed at the capabilities of the vehicle, the
huge torque, with fine tuning we can manage the torque on
wheel 160 times per second, 10,000 times per minute. That
controlling of each wheel helps us in the sand and snow.
Our off-road testing colleagues were so impressed with the
quietness, you don’t hear it. Normally when going off-road
you hear the effort, not here,” adds Enzmann.

Keeping it real
In addition to the extensive real-world testing,
Mercedes-Benz has six dedicated eDrive test benches,
which run almost constantly, with programs
running from several weeks, to as much as an
entire year for an endurance run.
Bench testing is undoubtedly crucial, but
nothing beats real-world tests. While some of
the previous winter tests had to be undertaken
at Mercedes-Benz’s Immendingen facility in

96 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

All-in-One eMobility
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 SUPPLIER INTERVIEW: INOBAT
Battery E-Volution
Could a bespoke battery solution mean the end
of one-size-fits-all for some industry segments?
WORDS: KARL VADASZFFY
D
espite launching only three years
ago, InoBat has grown to over 70
employees thanks to its offering of
carefully tailored, bespoke battery
solutions. The Slovakian company
works on every step of the process, from
conception with the customer, chemistry
development, and cell design development,
to manufacture and distribution.
Having secured a 9,500m2 (102,000ft2) site
in Slovakia, the company will begin
commissioning laboratories in September,
and by end of the year will launch its first
manufacturing semi-automatic pilot line able
to produce large format pouch cells.
Doug MacAndrew, CTO of InoBat Auto,
explains that the company came to fruition
when its founder noticed a gap in the
transportation and mobility markets, and
so decided to “provide bespoke cell solutions
for the under served areas of those markets,
which include commercial vehicles, aviation
vehicles, off-highway, premium automotive,
performance automotive, and high-
performance automotive. Our aim, therefore,
was and is to provide the right technology at
the correct time into those markets.”
98 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
This means that InoBat Auto is not trying
to fulfi l the needs of all customers with a single
cell – “that’s how the big cell manufacturers
provide their products into the market,”
MacAndrew says. “One of our main challenges
has been to reverse the dynamic. The industry
has been very used to having to pick a cell and
then design a product from it. We work with
the client to find out what they need and then
develop solutions to make it happen.”
“We see the segments themselves having
the ability and desire to normalize on a form
factor, instead of just being offered a form
factor that’s tended toward high-volume
automotive, so we explore form factors that
better satisfy those segments. Each segment
has different challenges, so that’s where we can
offer a better answer than simply the take-it-
or-leave-it approach that the industry has so
far been faced with.”
Correct chemistry
While physical changes might be part of the
“We work with the design process, a core element of the team’s
work is connecting the customer with the right
client to find out what chemistry, using nickel-rich chemistry and
lithium-ion cells, ensuring the electrochemical
they need and then optimization that is carried out has a set of
objectives that are noticeable, measurable, and
develop solutions to demonstrable so that the customer can see
make it happen” value. “We can recognise and deliver against
their objectives to make sure they can show
Doug MacAndrew, CTO, InoBat Auto
value within their product portfolio,”
MacAndrew says. This, he explains, could be

1 2
seen in anything from design for energy and
cycle life to recyclability and sustainability.
According to Iain Wight, CCO of InoBat
Auto, the industry’s current catalog approach
focuses on mass production and lower prices.
“But customers won’t always demand high
volumes, and a number of segments need
solutions that will work for them that are not
already covered by the large manufacturers.
You cannot always commit to the multi-
million-dollar spend if, for example, you’re
a commercial vehicle manufacturer, a light
commercial vehicle manufacturer, a bus
manufacturer, or a manufacturer of off-
highway equipment. So, what we’re doing is
supplying the right cells into the areas of the
marketplace that will benefit the most from
having a level of differentiation as well as a
continuity in supply, which sometimes drops
off with mass production models.”
Working within one specialist segment can,
of course, benefit another segment, as Wight
comments, “there are similarities and
crossovers. For instance, the demands of
high-performance and premium automotive
including motorsport are very similar to
aerospace in terms of power and energy
requirement and cycle life, so a lot of those
can be covered by similar chemistries, which
is where the real IP lies. Or consider the
heavy and light commercial vehicle and
off-highway segments, where customers
are looking for a lifecycle out of the cell
over a number of years and want the
possibility to upgrade chemistries halfway
through the lifetime of the vehicle, while
retaining the same format and minimizing
the development and certification that’s
required in that time.”
So whatever the segment requirement,
InoBat provides cells that can perform at the
highest level while offering lighter, smaller
batteries that enable enhanced vehicle
packaging flexibility. “Customers want more
energy in smaller spaces, or more energy in
the same space, so volumetric efficiency is vital, specifically developed to a customer’s needs,
and through our work we’ve achieved some at
20% improvement.”
Another key development in InoBat’s work
is lower resistance and the ability to charge at
“What we’re doing is
supplying the right cells
into the areas of the
marketplace that will
benefit the most”
Iain Wight, CCO, InoBat
3 sure our applications are as efficient as
1 and 2. InoBat designs bespoke prismatic
(left) and pouch (right) cell solutions that are
rather than the typical one-cell-fits-all model
3. The company is looking at evaluating
and assessing the ability to design
solid-state and lithium-metal batteries
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 99
SUPPLIER INTERVIEW: INOBAT
faster rates for longer, resulting in
improvements in range and efficiency. “Internal
resistance is key to efficient power usage and
efficient ultra-fast charging, and through
targeting that characteristic within our
electrochemical optimization, delivering a
30% improvement in internal resistance.”
This, MacAndrew explains, can result in
vehicle charge being reduced from 22 minutes
to 18 minutes. “We want to push that even
further, but such a reduction is already a
significant differentiator, certainly in the
high-power segment and the high-
performance segment where they want to
demonstrate that the ultimate performance
is in the driving and also the charging.”
Looking ahead
Work on fast charging and battery life will
be even more connected.
“There’ll have to be a balance between life
and fast charge. Cell design and optimization
will need to ensure that cells can extend their
life or maintain their usable life, while having
more availability to fast charging without
limiting that application.”
The company is also looking at evaluating
and assessing the ability to design solid-state
and lithium-metal batteries “that augment
what we do today with additional capacity
at the anode and additional process
capability in assembly,” says MacAndrew.
“We realize this is a circular economy –
connectivity thinking from day one is
essential, looking at how raw materials are
used and where they come from, to make
possible, to recover where recycling can occur,
and to use recycled material within the cells.”
While pure electric battery is ideal for some
solutions, “the world will be a mix of
technologies that provide different segments
and sectors with different options, driven
around recyclability, green operation, zero
carbon, and total cost of energy.”
For example, regional aircraft could be pure
electric, but with longer haul flights, when high
levels of energy are required and the mass of a
battery pack would be unfeasible, there is an
opportunity to have a hybrid setup.
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Next-generation
PHEV technology
Electrifying the front and rear axle of a plug-in hybrid vehicle doesn’t just add all-wheel
drive capacity, it enables more safety, controllability, performance, and efficiency
Alongside BEVs, hybrid
electric vehicles will continue
to play an important role in reducing
CO2 emissions, as the power and
charging infrastructure will grow at
different rates in different regions.
In addition, each driver’s living and
driving circumstances are different,
including higher demands for
commuting from remote areas,
which requires different powertrain
technologies to match all needs.
To improve the PHEV’s
contribution to this, Magna uses
several levers such as extending
the electric range, enabling a driving
experience like an all-electric car,
and providing a system that delivers
on the promise of efficiency in
real-world driving. This is essentially
a reversal of the typical hybrid
approach. In this drive system
architecture, the electric drive plays
the leading role. The combustion
engine is only used to extend the
range and provide sufficient power
when driving in hybrid mode.
100 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
In 2021, Magna presented the
only front-driven EtelligentEco
demonstrator vehicle at its winter
tests in Sweden. Key advantages
included driving performance and
ride comfort on par with EVs thanks
to a 120kW electric motor, 100-plus
kilometer (over 60 miles) range in
electric mode, and convenient use
through intelligent, networked
operating strategies.
While retaining these features,
the new demonstrator car
EtelligentCommand presented in
2022 comes with an additional
secondary eDrive system at the
rear axle, with an integrated torque
vectoring unit. This combination
offers higher overall electrical
performance as well as improved
traction, controllability, and driving
safety. In detail, the drive system
includes Magna’s 160kW eDS Mid+
eDrive on its rear axle and a
dedicated DHD Plus hybrid drive
combined with a 1.5-liter, three-
Dedicated Hybrid Drives (DHDs) off er the driving of a BEV with the versatility of a PHEV cylinder, gasoline engine at the front.
The DHD Plus is part of Magna’s
400 family and uses an
efficient and aff ordable smart
modular scalability approach
for high torque, high
voltage (HV) applications.
The integrated e-motor
off ers a peak power
output of 120kW

The e-motor integrated into the
DHD Plus drive offers a peak output
of 120kW, the ICE power is 147kW.
A 21.5kWh battery provides an
electric-only range of 110 kilometers
(68 miles) in the WLTC, simplifying
regular all-electric driving.
Thanks to the electric power of
120kW + 160kW available, there are
no performance compromises.
These measures of extended range
and high electric performance can
motivate drivers to fully use the
emission reduction potential of a
PHEV in real-world driving. During
internal tests with employees of
Magna Graz, results have proven
that everyday commuting was
almost exclusively driven using
electric power.
Another substantial requirement
for next-generation PHEVs is to
keep the system complexity low.
This includes reducing mechanical
complexity as well as using scalable
components relying on a building-
block approach.
With this in mind, the eDS
Mid+ on the rear axle is a
universal eDrive that is also
used with fully electric
vehicles, typically in the C to
D segments and in SUVs. In
the EtelligentCommand
application, it includes an
integrated torque vectoring unit.
This unit uses two
electromechanically actuated wet
clutches, each of which can be
engaged in under 100 milliseconds.
This allows for extremely precise
operations to control the yaw
moment of the vehicle. Again, the
included torque-vectoring unit is
taken from the existing range of
Magna’s drive solutions. It has been
proven in series production in
several conventionally powered
production vehicles.
Twin-clutch-based
torque vectoring
system
The eDS Mid+ drive is a
highly integrated eDrive,
off ering 160kW peak power
The EtelligentCommand is a technology demonstrator vehicle containing the dedicated
hybrid drive DHD Plus at the front and the eDrive Mid+ at the rear axle
The DHD Plus drive at the front
is a dedicated hybrid drive based
on a five-speed dual-clutch
transmission. The design is derived
from a seven-speed dual-clutch
transmission, but with a reduced
number of mechanical gears. Five
gears are enough as the high-torque
120kW electric motor performs most
of the dynamic functions. This
applies even more, as the
rear-drive adds another
160kW. Another reason for
the reduced number of
gears is the DHD Plus
needs no launch or reverse
gear. Both functions are
handled by the available
front and rear electric
motors. This improves launch
and low-speed controllability and
performance over clutch or torque
converter solutions usually used in
hybrid drives.
The low mechanical complexity
of the DHD improves the torque-to-
weight ratio and reduces space
requirements. Yet, functionality can
be scaled. For example, an
additional, “virtual” crawler gear
can be added without modifying
the gearset, enabling a 25:1 ratio for
towing or offroad situations.
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 101
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
When it comes to the whole
vehicle system, the combination
of both eDrives enables additional
features through their independent
operability. For example, other than
a conventional all-wheel drive with
a cardan shaft, the torque can be
freely longitudinally shifted between
both axles. Combined with the
lateral torque vectoring through
the rear dual-clutch unit, the yaw
angle can be perfectly controlled
when cornering.
Therefore, the driver makes
around 50% fewer steering
corrections in demanding driving
situations, accompanied by a 15%
safety margin increase. Additional
fine-tuning of the behavior is
possible through several driving
modes that allow for choosing
between maximum control and
sporty driving characteristics.
As an integrated solution, the
EtelligentCommand delivers CO2
reduction, performance, and
handling. It offers the drivability
of a BEV, and the versatility of
a PHEV.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about Magna,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

High-voltage components
enhance efficiency
The evolution of electrified vehicle propulsion continues to drive new cooling system
requirements and challenges, particularly in the commercial vehicle sector

Whether a vehicle is propelled

by a hybrid drive, battery
electric drive or fuel cell electric
drive, the cooling requirements
increase as larger vehicles try to
take advantage of the benefits of
this technology.
Most systems require liquid
cooling for the drive motors,
electronics, fuel cells and batteries.
The larger output devices require
increased coolant flow compared to
their smaller predecessors. The
pressure losses through these large
enclosures are typically as high, or
higher than, their smaller
predecessors meaning a pump
solution must have a high flow rate
and produce enough pressure to
drive this flow. These system
requirements have outgrown most
of the current electric coolant pump
products that are currently available.
To meet the demand for higher
coolant flow, Engineered Machined
Products (EMP) has recently added
a High Voltage (HV) version of the
WP150 to its Smart Flow line of
products. The HV WP150 coolant
pump is engineered to efficiently
provide coolant flow rates of up to
400 LPM with enough pressure to
overcome the restriction typically
found with these flow rates.
Models operate in the range from
450-800VDC to easily integrate into
existing HV electrical system
architecture. The use of HV auxiliary
components can reduce or eliminate
the need for DC/DC converters.
Wiring and connectors are simplified
because of the low current draw
The HV-WP150 electric
compared with 28V or 48V systems. water pump has
As with all EMP’s Smart Flow optimized geometry
components, the HV WP150 utilizes to ensure flow and
pressure is generated as
brushless DC motor and drive efficiently as possible
technology for long life even in the

102 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com


Static pressure rise versus volumetric flow rate for the HV-WP150
most demanding environment.
This is the same motor and drive as
EMP’s HV FiC-15, a high-powered
brushless fan used in commercial
vehicles and other global markets.
Both the HV WP150 and HV FiC-15
designs are based largely on their
low voltage predecessors which
have recorded field service life in
excess of 70,000 hours.
Even though this pump has the
ability to operate at high power
levels, the ultimate aim in vehicle
electrification is efficiency.
CFD optimized geometry
ensures that the flow and
pressure is generated as
efficiently as possible to
minimize the parasitic load
from the system.
Driving the pump using HV
improves pump efficiency and
reduces wiring losses. The pump
output can be optimized to match
a system’s cooling demand using
SAE J1939 CAN communication
to provide variable speed control.
The optimization of pump output
can help stabilize operating
temperatures for critical electronics,
while minimizing parasitic power
draw and helping to improve full
vehicle performance.
The other benefit of CAN
communication is diagnostic
capability, so EMP is working
closely with SAE to ensure OBD II
compliance on the HV-WP150. As
more electronic components are
Power in versus volumetric flow rate for the HV-WP150
added to vehicle architecture, it is
important for those components to
broadcast their condition via
diagnostic messaging. This helps
end users make maintenance and
repair decisions to minimize vehicle
down time. Our proprietary software
is set up to provide users flexibility to
make implementation into the
vehicle network as easy as possible.
Autobaud rate detection allows for
integration into 250K, 500K and 1M
systems. Custom calibrations are
available to users to provide multiple
addressing and PGN options to best
suit an application.
To fully utilize the diagnostic
capabilities of the HV-WP150 pump
interfaces with EMP’s service tool
to allow users to download data
from the device and send in for
diagnostic analysis. This data
includes fault code information and
application information stored by
the pump. This information can help
the user better understand system
operation and opportunities for
optimization. This service tool also
enables the user to flash software
updates and new calibrations along
with manually controlling devices
for troubleshooting.
EMP has been providing electric
coolant pumps into the fuel cell
market for many years. This
experience carries over into the
HV-WP150. All the wetted
components of the pump are made
from materials chosen specifically
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 103
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
to be corrosion resistant and
compatible with the stringent fuel
cell requirements. The high flow rate
also allows customers to replace
multiple lower flow pumps with a
single pump. This simplifies
mechanical packaging by
eliminating manifolds and reducing
the number of hoses, clamps and
sealing joints. Utilizing a single
pump also simplifies wiring and
reduces connector count. These
integration benefits help to increase
the overall robustness and reliability
of the system.
EMP remains one of the largest
producers of mechanical coolant
pumps for the North American
heavy-duty industry for over 20
years and has been producing
electric coolant pumps for
demanding applications since 2006.
The engineering and service teams
at EMP lean on this experience to
help ensure successful
implementation of components into
new or existing systems.
The HV-WP150 was not only
developed with pump requirements
in mind, but system integration as
well. It can simplify coolant system
design and allow engineers and
designers to focus on the many
other challenges associated with
vehicle propulsion electrification.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about EMP,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Switching on the rEVolution
A study into how prepared the automotive industry, consumers, and supply chain is for the
transition to electrification reveals a market that’s raring to go, but there are still roadblocks
A successful transition to
electric will require close
collaboration between
governments and OEMs
The last 12 months have been
revolutionary for the
automotive industry, as many
governments ramp up their net-zero
ambitions with clear targets to
phase out internal combustion
engine (ICE) vehicles.
For these targets to be achieved,
the next few years will require
unprecedented and rapid change
in the production, purchase and
use of vehicles. Automotive supply
chains will need to be reshaped,
infrastructure will need to be
developed, and new partnerships
will need to be formed.
Castrol and bp pulse are
understanding how this is impacting
the automotive industry with its
Switching ON the rEVolution study,
which investigates readiness for the
transition to electric vehicles by
building a holistic picture that
incorporates market, consumer
and carmaker data.
The study is based on in-depth
global research among 10,000
consumers (drivers of ICE cars,
hybrids, PHEVs and EVs) and 100
104 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
leaders from the automotive C-Suite,
analyzing sentiment towards EVs
and transition progress. This study
finds that carmakers are gearing up
for the EV revolution. 97% of
automotive executives who took
part in the study are confident their
organization will meet the phase-out
dates, and transition is a strategic
priority for most organizations, with
R&D budgets increasingly allocated
to EV development. The transition
mindset is taking hold amongst
drivers too, with over half of the
consumers in the study saying they
will consider an EV for their next
vehicle purchase.
The revolution has significant
momentum, and there are several
key accelerators that can help drive
it forward. Government mandates,
partnerships and collaboration are
encouraging the automotive
industry to make the switch to EVs.
Consumers, meanwhile, are
motivated by aspirations like lower
emissions, and practicalities like
lower running costs and
convenience of home charging.
But there are roadblocks
on the journey to
widespread EV adoption,
which must be addressed.
Automotive executives in
the study are concerned
about the readiness of their
supply chain and the
expense of batteries.
Meanwhile, consumers still have
lingering concerns around charge,
range, and price. The EV revolution
is well underway and moving at compared with mass market EV
pace. A successful transition will factory fill fluid, charge faster versus
require close collaboration between an indirect cooled battery system,
governments, the automotive and last longer against standard EV
industry, and wider stakeholders, transmission fluid. bp pulse is
including Castrol and bp pulse. It committed to helping make the
will also require innovation, product switch to EV easier by building a
development and marketing that significant public charging network
works to address consumers’ and reliable charging products and
residual concerns. services, that is fast, simple to use
Castrol is committed to working and totally seamless. The next
with industry partners to accelerate decade – and the next few years in
the transition, helping to switch on particular – will be critical.
an electric future. Castrol ON EV
fluids aim to bring the industry FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
closer to overcoming the challenges To learn more about Castrol,
faced by helping EVs go further visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV



 

  


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The latest test and development
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 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Battery design flexibility

Next-gen e-mobility battery designs must accommodate a variety of cell configurations

As the electric vehicle and

e-mobility markets shift into
even higher growth rates, battery
technologies face some key
assembly challenges, including the
need for design flexibility to handle
a range of different individual cell
types while keeping costs and
increasing production volumes.
Batteries for e-mobility
applications generally consist of
a design hierarchy including the
following key elements – individual
cells, modules and battery pack.
Individual cells can take a range
of different shapes, including
cylindrical, pouch or prismatic.
Cylindrical cells provide a
symmetrical shape that can be
efficiently packed together in the
module. This design has become the
most commonly used cell type as it
provides for high density packing
into modules. The cylindrical shape
also helps minimize stress and
internal pressures.
Prismatic cells are typically
packaged in a hard casing of welded
aluminum or steel. Their low-profile
design can improve volume
utilization in the module and battery
pack. However, prismatic cells can
be more expensive to manufacture.
Finally, there are pouch cells
(sometimes called polymer cells),
which are similar to prismatic cells
but, instead of a hard metal casing,
they are sealed in a laminated foil
The low-profile of prismatic batteries
can improve volume but are expensive
Interplex’s Cell-PLX custom Battery Interconnect System is customizable to support a wide range of designs
pouch. Pouch cells offer a high level
of packaging efficiency and can be
created in a variety of shapes.
However, they may tend to swell and
are more vulnerable to penetration
than hard casings.
Battery modules typically consist
of many individual cells grouped
together and connected to current
collector plates for gathering the
specified power output levels.
Ultimately, the number of cells
connected in a specific
configuration and power output of
each cell are the determining factors
for delivering the required output
for the battery module.
The Cell-PLX Battery
Interconnect System from Interplex
is specifically designed to enable
battery manufacturers across the
entire spectrum of applications to
have a single robust, customizable,
solution that addresses the full
range of design requirements.
Cell-PLX connects the battery
cells to the current collectors and
can be used with cylindrical,
prismatic or pouch battery modules.
There is the option for high speed,
robust laser weld attachment to the
The symmetrical shape of cylindrical
cells off ers efficient module packing
cells, thereby enabling efficient
production processes, lower
manufacturing costs, and high-
volume operations.
With full conformance to
applicable standards currently
used within the automotive industry,
Cell-PLX provides the built-in
flexibility for adapting to any new
EV-related standards as they evolve
and are adopted.
Key standards that currently apply
to the Cell-PLX technology include:
ISO 16750-2 and 3, electrical and
Mechanical Loads; ISO 16750-4
and -5, Climatic and Chemical loads;
USCAR 2-6, Performance
Specifications for Automotive
electrical Connector Systems,
and IEC 60664-1 insulation
coordination for equipment within
low voltage systems.
There is no one-size-fits-all
approach as each battery design
has its own set of specifications
and requirements. As such, battery
manufacturers need to work with
knowledgeable battery interconnect
design partners.
Interplex has the flexibility to
handle different cell types and
design-specific requirements for
aluminum, copper, nickel,
performance plastics, and dielectric
layers, complete with customization
capabilities that can meet any
power output specification and
configuration requirements.
As a global solutions provider
with in-house vertically integrated
production capabilities, key OEMs
and Tier-1s trust Interplex to design,
develop, and manufacture custom
battery solutions to reduce their
total cost of ownership (TCO).
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about Interplex,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

106 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

Charging
forward nge.
Increasing ra st.
Decreasing
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to accelerate the world’s
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 PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Structural adhesive joints
Adhesives show complex behaviors under different loading conditions,
FEA models can help give valuable insights into adhesive performance
Electric vehicle manufacturers
rely on structural adhesives to
improve process efficacy, join
lightweight materials, and meet
multifunctional needs including high
and low temperature performance,
shear and tensile strength,
crashworthiness, thermal
conductivity, electrical insulation,
and noise vibration harshness
(NVH) reduction. Simulation is used
extensively in the EV market to test
structures virtually, reducing the
time and resources required for
physical testing. EV engineers
model adhesive joints to select the
right adhesive, optimize the joint
geometry, improve joint strength
and reduce the overall weight.
Simulation requires a material
model that describes how the
adhesive responds to loads. Material
models for metals and other
standard engineering materials are
readily available, but adhesives
exhibit more complex types of
mechanical behaviors when
exposed to different loading
conditions and thus require
advanced testing and material
calibration methods. 3M has
developed methods for
characterizing adhesive materials
and providing customers with
material data cards (MDCs) in a
format compatible with a variety of
finite element modeling software.
Structural adhesives are available
with a wide range of material
properties, and FEA modeling can
help in selecting the right adhesive
for the application. Figure 1 shows
a battery pack digital twin with an
adhesively bonded lid. For the
simulation, a high modulus Methyl
methacrylate (MMA) adhesive and
a flexible acrylic adhesive were
evaluated, and the adhesive material
models were imported using 3M
MDCs. The simulation in Figure 2
shows the high-modulus MMA
108 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
Figure 1 adhesive transferred more of the
load, resulting in higher stresses and
lower deformations. The simulation
shows the flexible adhesive had
larger deformations, absorbing more
energy and resulting in lower
stresses. In battery lid bonding
applications, high modulus
adhesives are used when the
adhesive must bear high loads, and
flexible adhesives are used to
maintain a seal while allowing some
joint movement, often combined
with mechanical attachments.
Battery pack digital twin geometry noting substrates and adhesive
Cell-to-pack is a major trend in
battery pack design and packs are
Figure 2 increasingly required to function as
structural elements of the vehicle.
Adhesives are often used to
increase pack stiffness by
transferring loads over large bond
areas. Figure 3 shows the battery
pack digital twin subjected to a
torsional stiffness test. In this
simulation, the pack lid is attached
with either spotwelds or the MMA
adhesive. The adhesive material
model was imported into the
simulation using a 3M MDC. The
simulation shows that the adhesively
bonded pack had a higher torsional
stiffness and lower stresses than the
Simulation of the battery pack digital twin subjected to an internal pressure burst test spotwelded pack as the load was
distributed over a larger bond area.
Figure 3 The spotwelds resulted in stress
concentrations, and gaps between
spotwelds reduced pack stiffness.
FEA modeling enables adhesive
joints to be designed analytically,
rapidly evaluating adhesive
performance and reducing design
cycle time. Modeling adhesives
requires reliable adhesive material
models, which historically have not
been available. 3M has developed
Material Data Cards available for
common 3M adhesives.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about 3M,
Simulation of the battery pack digital twin subjected to a torsional stiff ness test visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
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 PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Passivation pathways
eFluids provide a solution to prevent copper corrosion, which preserves vital component integrity
Increasingly, electric and
hybrid vehicle lubricants must
offer conventional wear protection
for steel gears and bearings while
also effectively cooling copper-
containing e-motors, power
electronics and potentially even
battery modules. Fluid chemistries
impact metals differently, in seen
and unseen ways, so a deep
understanding of surface chemistry
is essential.
Afton Chemical presents how
conventional lubricants contribute
to copper corrosion and how eFluid
formulation can protect copper to
preserve vital component integrity.
In the presence of oxygen, copper
surfaces form oxides. These may
look green or black, as seen on
church roofs. Discoloration is not
a failure mode per se, so
understanding the processes at a
molecular level is key.
If copper can be passivated with
a protective, insoluble layer, visual
appearance may be less relevant.
However, when the surface layer
formed is a soluble copper
compound, this promotes leaching
and removal of copper from the
surface. Copper leaching is often
caused by the traditional lubrication
needs of steel gears and bearings.
Discoloration of copper on a roof, showing continued stability over time
110 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
Unprotected copper can suff er from corrosion including leaching. This can be prevented by the formation of stable layers
Oxygen reacts with steel surfaces
to form a thin iron oxide layer.
Extreme pressure (EP) melts iron
oxide, allowing molten material to
transfer from one surface to another,
causing scuffing wear. Conventional
EP additives contain sulfur, which
competes with oxygen to create an
iron sulfide layer that is more
desirable: its higher melting point
prevents scuffing.
Active sulfur in conventional
lubricants also reacts with copper.
Copper sulfide also forms a layer on
the surface, but this may not offer
protection against copper gradually
leaching into the lubricant. The
copper sulfide may also become
more brittle or mechanically
different, flake off and weaken the
affected components.
Another failure mode can occur
when electrical current flows
through copper components or
when copper components have
electric potential differences.
Copper ions can be leached out,
resulting in positively charged
copper ions migrating through the
lubricant towards the negatively
charged electrode.
These copper particles may form
copper-rich, branching needle-like
electrodeposits known as dendrites,
that can create unwanted circuits
and cause component failure or
even fires.
Factors known to affect dendrite
formation include distance between
electrodes, voltage levels and
lubricant composition including
conventional EP additives.
Passivating copper prevents it
from reacting or behaving
undesirably. Afton Chemical has an
extensive history in this area and
has been continuing to develop
new technology accompanied by
relevant testing.
Preventing leaching can include
utilizing chemistries that sequester
or protect some of the active sulfur,
stopping it from degrading and
Sulphur is used
traditionally
to protect
metal contact
points, with
phosphorous
delivering
protective
surface films
reacting with copper but still
allowing a protective EP film to form
on gears and bearings.
Other options involve creating a
non-soluble film over copper
components to protect them from
sulfur. Some films alter the copper’s
appearance, but still prevent
leaching or stripping of copper from
the surface.
Further pathways include
innovative new chemistries that
don’t employ active sulfur, forming
hard, protective films that still
protect gears and bearings under
EP conditions.
New in-house tests also allow
Afton to evaluate how different
eFluids help reduce dendrite
formation and improve component
performance. Detailed molecular
understanding, application
knowledge and relevant testing
jointly determine the best copper
passivation pathways for EV
performance and reliability.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about Afton Chemical,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
September 13-15, 2022

For more information, please visit

EVtechExpo.com
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Precise power analysis
A new integrated hardware and software tool has been designed to help
provide engineers with high-speed component measurement requirements
Any electric powertrain
component starts as a
concept on the drawing board and
makes its way through a design and
simulation process into reality. To
evaluate the reality against the
design and simulations,
comprehensive testing and
measurements are vital. Therefore,
test engineers need to carefully
consider the complete measurement
setup from the selection of sensors
for the acquisition of different
signals, to the acquisition device,
and the analysis of the acquired
data in software.
In an electric vehicle (EV) the
power originates from the battery
which supplies an inverter with the
high voltage direct current. To power
the electric motor, the direct current
is normally inverted to symmetrically
displaced, three alternating phase
currents via an inverter.
To develop more efficient
inverters, it requires innovation and
optimization on multiple fronts. One
is ever higher inverter switching
frequencies. The emerging
technology of silicon carbide (SiC)
field-effect transistors (MOSFETs)
112 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
enables the manufacturers to push
towards the 100 kHz range. Higher
switching frequencies enable the
reduced size of passive components
- such as inductors and capacitors
- and consequently reduce the
weight of the inverter. Switching
frequencies above the audio range
also mean reduced airborne noise
caused by the vibrations excited by
the electromagnetic force. On the
other hand, higher switching
frequencies intensify unwanted
phenomena such as capacitive
bearing currents, which also need
to be measured and analyzed.
In total, the measurement
conditions call for a measurement
solution with a bandwidth that will
not attenuate any interesting
phenomena that may occur: a
sampling rate that will accurately
capture fast transients and ten or
more harmonics of the inverter
switching frequency, and sensing
capability that will safely and
accurately measure leakage as well
as peak currents. Lastly, data needs
to be analyzed in real-time as well
as be available for post-analysis.
Dewesoft has developed seamlessly
Electric motor efficiency analysis
using Dewesoft ’s hardware and
soft ware provides test engineers with
a complete measurement setup. It
off ers real-time analysis and over
150 diff erent output measurements
integrated hardware and software
tools that answer all these
measurement requirements.
To provide multi-tasking,
Dewesoft’s latest development, the
Sirius XHS, features eight channels
- four high-voltage, and four
low-voltage - with sampling rates up
to 15 MSPS, a bandwidth of 5MHz,
and a dynamic range of 150 dB in
the world’s smallest power analyzer.
The device offers channel-to-
channel and channel-to-ground
isolation on all channels with CAT III
600V safety rating on high-voltage
channels and accuracy up to 0.03%.
Excitation
on low-voltage channels enables
users to directly connect and power
certain current transducers.
Transducers that require more
power, can be supplied via an
additional power supply unit. A
modular design also enables the
ability to stack and synchronize
multiple Sirius slices for demanding
measurement tasks.
The DewesoftX software enables
the recording of raw data as well as
real-time analysis with a power
analysis module that outputs over
150 different measurements ranging
from basic active and reactive power
parameters to overlapping period
values of fundamental harmonics
and period symmetrical
components. Customizable controls
allow visualizations in time,
frequency, and polar domains. To
perform the real-time power analysis
at high sampling rates offered by the
Sirius XHS, the GPU (Graphics
Processing Unit) adds processing
power. The architecture of the GPU
enables massive parallelization of
the computation load and can
perform certain tasks orders of
magnitudes faster than the CPU. As
a result, users can simultaneously
run even three power modules at
a high sampling rate on a mid-range
laptop with a GPU.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about Dewesoft,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
Your design,
our expertise.
Implement xEV battery innovative bonding solutions
with the support of 3M experts. 3M offers many
Learn More
solutions for applications at the cell, module,
and pack level, as well as up-and-coming trends
such as cell-to-pack and cell-to-vehicle.
3M is a trademark of 3M. © 3M 2022. All rights reserved.
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Battery cell C-rate testing

A new solution enables reliability testing requirements of large
capacity battery cells up to 4800A

More and more electric

vehicle manufacturers are
looking to simplify their EV’s battery
management system (BMS) by
improving the EV’s single battery
cell design. At the same time, many
are paying more attention to fast
charging as well as dynamic
performance, driving up the
requirements for current and power
capabilities of automotive batteries.
In energy storage applications,
batteries are tasked with power
conditioning, requiring large
capacity and high current rates.
However, large-capacity battery
cells with high current rates often
face equipment limitations and
cannot be fully tested.
Rising to this challenge, Chroma
has launched its new 17010H Battery
Reliability Test System, featuring
200% pulse current output and a
parallel channel function to meet all
battery cell testing requirements
below 4800A.
When implementing power tests
in accordance with International
Standard IEC62660-1, the battery
cell uses the voltage at the end of
the 10-second pulse current
measurement to calculate the power
characteristics. The pulse current
gradually increases the rate
according to the standard until it
Chroma 17010H battery reliability test system
The benefi ts of the Chroma 17010H design optimizes the power output mode
reaches the maximum current
capability defined by the
manufacturer. By this principle, if
a 60Ah lithium battery cell needs
to have its pulse working current
(10C-rate) tested 10 times, it used
to require purchasing 600A charging
and discharging equipment. This
has now been eliminated as Chroma
is able to provide a test solution with
twice the current output.
The single channel current
capacity of Chroma 17010H is 300A,
which can be amplified with Super
Mode to output 200% current
(600A) within 30 seconds, especially
suitable for pulse current
performance testing. The new
design focuses on battery
applications and optimizes the
power output mode, providing test
equipment with a 50% reduction
in volume and a 30% reduction in
price. Key to the high pulse current
capability designed by Chroma is
the power circuit’s temperature
control. Firstly, the 17010H’s high
conversion efficiency energy
recovery architecture greatly
reduces the heating of components
during charging and discharging.
Secondly, it increases the operating
current by optimizing power module
integration and component
selection. Finally, temperature
control is achieved with the help of
heat flow design.
As for measurement, a distributed
high-precision current transformer
structure that ensures current
accuracy is supplemented with a
cold and hot area circuit layout to
reduce temperature drift, together
forming an integrated battery test
system that achieves 200% pulse
current output.
There are many key advantages
of the Chroma 17010H. Its high
measurement reproducibility helps
testers save time on trend judgment
and characteristic analysis, while a
zero-crossover and fast current
response capabilities provide test
results that closely correspond with
real applications.
In addition, multiple current range
design improves the accuracy of
small currents, with a minimum
current range of 1:10 and suitable
ranges for both high and low-rate
performance tests.
With a discharge energy recycling
efficiency of 75%, it not only saves
on operating power and decreasing
the waste heat from air conditioning,
but also reduces the laboratory
power distribution requirements.
Finally, an Independent Level 2 V.
protection function strengthens the
safety of high current testing.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about Chroma,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

114 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 BATTERIES USED IN TRANSPORTATION ARE ON THE CUSP
OF AN EXPLOSION IN GROWTH.

NeoGraf High-Performance Graphite

Thermal Management Solutions Increase
Battery Performance
As the transportation market grows, the need for smaller
and lighter weight battery solutions becomes increasingly
important. Graphite is the primary material that will
substantially reduce battery pack size and weight in
emerging transportation markets.

Providing EV Thermal Management Solutions

NeoGraf’s Thermal Management Solutions heat spreading technology makes Electric Vehicle (EV)
battery packs smaller and lighter. NeoGraf’s graphite is the material solution that substantially
reduces battery pack size and weight in all transportation markets.

NeoGraf’s Graphite Thermal Management Solution Products…

4INCREASE vehicle driving range
4INCREASE battery cell-cycle lifetimes
4DECREASE battery charging time
4MINIMIZE battery size and weight
4INCREASE battery safety with thermal runaway prevention

For more information on NeoGraf’s Thermal Management Solutions,

please email info@neograf.com or visit www.neograf.com.
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Safer battery cooling

Reduction of electrical conductivity provides improved safety and greater
design flexibility for water-glycol coolants

Indirect cooling of battery

packs with water-glycol
coolants is well established in the
automotive industry due to its low
complexity and high heat transfer
performance. In most BEV
applications, a ‘classic’ engine
coolant is used as a heat transfer
fluid. Capable of resisting elevated
engine thermal management
temperatures, such coolant provides
high corrosion protection, stability
and lifetime, however it relies on
additive technologies causing the
fluid to be highly electrically
conductive (>2000µS/cm).
Significant reduction of the
electrical conductivity (100µS/cm)
is desired to improve safety of the
BEV thermal management systems,
where the current trend is to closely
New battery thermal management designs aim to integrate the coolant more closely with the batteries, thereby increasing electrical
integrate coolant and electrical risks in case of leakage events
components, such as the battery
pack, to improve the removal of heat. this water-glycol based coolant has conductive coolants. Enabling new technology (OAT), of which
Recently developed at automotive a strongly reduced tendency for possible architectures to engineers robustness has been proven for
coolant specialist Arteco Coolants, hydrogen formation when high designing the thermal management decades in combustion engine
a dedicated BEV coolant with all- voltage components would system of BEVs, the inherently coolants, and which is the corrosion
round corrosion protection and accidently contact the coolant. This superior heat transfer properties of inhibitor of choice at the operating
material compatibility, provides this translates into longer escape times water could be turned into further temperatures of BEVs. Formulated
100µS/cm electrical conductivity for the driver and passenger in case cooling performance by reducing with a passivation package, the
level, reducing electric hazards in of a crash or other incidents. the thickness of electrically coolant even withstands the
case of leak events. Next to being In addition to safety benefits, insulating barriers and decreasing negative influence aluminium
intrinsically non-flammable and performance gains could also be power losses in the electric motor. brazing flux may have on electrical
having a low environmental impact, found in the use of low electrically By doing so, a low electrically conductivity. As such, the coolant
conductive water-glycol coolant may technology is easily implemented at
A dedicated BEV coolant
with all-round corrosion
bridge the performance gap with assembly plants with no new or
protection increases vehicle immersion technology, while adapted parts required.
safety and performance complexity and cost remains low. Whether used as a single thermal
Arteco Coolants has proven that management fluid in the system or
such a dedicated BEV coolant in combination with other
maintains its low electrical complementary cooling systems,
conductivity over time, also when in water-glycol coolants are proven
contact with standard automotive and commercialized. Use of next-
components. This is a very generation products with controlled
important property, as most low and low electrical conductivity may
conductive coolants are not well be the next incremental step in
designed for this and would show BEV performance.
important increases in electrical
conductivity relatively fast after FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
factory fill. Corrosion inhibitors are To learn more about Arteco Coolants,
based on organic additive visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

116 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

TECHNOLOGY
YOU CAN COUNT ON.
A CARBON FOOTPRINT
YOU CAN BE PROUD OF.
Introducing the Cummins PowerDrive 8000, a new electric solution
dedicated to the terminal tractor sector. Eliminate range anxiety.
Enjoy lower noise levels. Maneuver more efficiently. Meet duty
cycle demands - and do it all with zero emissions at the tailpipe.

Learn more at cummins.com/newpower

 PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Continuous quality
The development of a flexible busbar made from a continuous length of
material overcomes the shortcomings of joint failure found in traditional busbars
Royal Power Solutions,
established in 1938, was
acquired by Eaton earlier this year,
is a speclialist in the development
and production of critical high-
precision power- and signal-
distribution components.
Royal Power Solutions is
recognized for its experience in
developing electrical components
and capabilities, including RigiFlex
flexible busbars, high-power lock
box (HPLB) terminal connectors and
its state-of-the-art stamping facility.
The demand for these innovative
components is rapidly increasing
among electrified vehicle
manufacturers across the globe.
Traditional busbars contain
multiple hotspots due to
numerous welds and
dissimilar materials.
However, Eaton has
overcome these shortcomings
with its RigiFlex busbar, which is
created using one continuous
length of material that is both rigid
and flexible as required within the
application environment.
The RigiFlex flexible busbars can
be manufactured in copper or
aluminum. Eaton’s unique, simple,
1-piece flow for manufacturing, has
the ability to scale to any customer
volume needed. By combining
Eaton’s HPLB terminal system and
RigiFlex flexible busbars it can
create a self-aligning, quick connect
solution that reduces the packaging
envelope and are 100% insulated.
The RigiFlex busbars enable
vehicle manufacturers to eliminate
fasteners in their components and
to experience a decrease in
warranty issues related to torque
joint failure as well as the ability to
automate the installation of the
busbar to a battery pack. RigiFlex
busbars are supplied to the
automotive, electrified vehicle,
truck, bus and off-roading markets.
118 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
High-power lock box
terminal connectors
are used in the 2P
Infinity Series LP8
HV Connector System
RigiFlex connectors off er
lighter weight as well as
higher current-carrying capability
Using a continuous length of
copper or aluminum to create
the busbar eliminates fasteners
in components, which reduces Combining Eaton’s HPLB
and RigiFlex busbar
issues of joint failure
creates a self-aligning,
quick connect solution
Eaton’s specialized HPLB and forming process competitive collaborative, customer-centric
Connection Systems are for current products require. strategy for optimum results,
and future electrified vehicle Eaton’s HPLB terminal system delivering quality and reliability.
solutions. The HPLB connectors forms a connection in a unique way These methods allow for scalable
offer a space-saving profile, superior that provides improved contact growth with vehicle manufacturers
performance, cost savings and force as the temperature increases. as their product lines expand.
reduced manufacturing complexity. Unlike traditional male-to-female Royal Power Solutions
The HPLB terminals provide terminal connections, Eaton’s HPLB components are now designed
efficiency and reliability as well as Terminals use an inverted contact and incorporated into Eaton’s
protection against the elements. system. This unique configuration eMobility products, such as its
Additionally, the HPLB terminals provides a stronger connection than DC-DC converters, battery-
are waterproof up to 1 meter deep that of conventional box-and-blade disconnect and power-distribution
and strong enough to withstand connectors where the female units. With the integration of Royal
high-pressure water spray. terminal spring squeezes the male Power Solutions, Eaton’s
The HPLB terminals are a blade, which loosens when exposed components are now vertically
“plug-in” solution with a smaller to heat and vibration, resulting in sourced, reducing complexity and
footprint, resulting in less weight a loss of power flow continuity and time to market, as well as optimizing
and a reduced profile. Eaton uses the possibility of corrosion system performance.
a progressive stamping process Eaton’s stamping facility includes
to manufacture the HPLBs high-speed Bruderer, Minster and FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
compared to the more costly Aida Punch presses starting at 30 To learn more about Eaton,
complex billet machining, stamping tons. The process is focuses on a visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
EMO01-21.003.L1

You didn’t want that much?

Compact CCS charging cables for the lower power range
Conventional CCS charging cables are oversized for many applications, as their supported
charging power is often only used to a fraction.
Our compact CCS charging cables CHARX connect were awarded the Good Design Award
2021 for their convenient handling and stylish design. They are consistently tailored to
modern DC home chargers and small DC charging stations with powers of up to 80 kW.
Sometimes less is more.

CHARX connect
E-Mobility empowered by Phoenix Contact phoenixcontact.com/charx-connect-80kw
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

The benefits of V2G

Bidirectional charging is a central component of the energy transition,
which is made possible with compact DC charging cables

In times of declining feed-in

The principle of
tariffs and simultaneous rising bidirectionality sees
electricity costs, Vehicle-to-Home storage units in the car
(V2H) charging can be used to buff er the fluctuating yields
when the sun is shining –
increase self-consumption and thus
and feed back into the grid
save money without having to install when it is dark
an additional costly stationary
battery in the home. This is a
prospect that is becoming
increasingly attractive and is realistic
today, with a compatible vehicle.
When the home EV charger is
connected to the house network,
the car can be charged and also
serve as an energy storage device.
With a solar power system on the
roof of the house, the home charger
establishes a connection between
the generator and the storage unit at
times of power surplus - the car
battery is charged. If the car is
stationary at night, then the home
charger detects any demand in the
home grid and feeds in energy.
In addition to the vehicle, DC
home chargers are required for this
– specially designed for applications
at the workplace or at home. With
reduced charging power, however,
they are by no means comparable
with classic fast-charging stations.
The real highlight of these charging
stations is their bidirectionality,
The European CCS Type 2 Standard and the American CCS Type 1 Standard of the CCS
which is what makes it possible to C-Line from Phoenix Contact have been honored with the Good Design Award 2021
use the vehicle as an energy storage of the Chicago Athenaeum Museum
device in the first place.
The Charx connect CCS C-Line but with significantly more compact Even for energy suppliers, V2G
charging cables from Phoenix dimensions of the charging bidirectional charging is attractive
Contact have been specially connector. This makes the CCS for a completely different reason. It
developed for use at such charging C-Line ideal for use with modern can be used to absorb strong
stations with charging capacities of DC home chargers in garages and fluctuations and loads on the power
up to 80kW. Until the introduction of carports, as well as small DC grid. Load peaks can be broken,
this new power class from Phoenix charging stations in the public/ therefore fluctuations in the
Contact, charging with direct commercial sector. availability of renewable energies V2G can increase the share of
current in the public sector was Highly sensitive temperature can be mitigated. The batteries of renewable energies in the energy
usually equated with fast charging, sensors in the connector, silver- millions of electric cars form a buffer mix and be an important component
which led to a correspondingly plated contacts and a proven storage and absorb regenerative of the energy transition.
robust design of the charging internal sealing concept guarantee electricity at times of high availability
cables. The focus on the lower safety during charging, while high- to make it available again, to a FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
power range continues to enable quality and robust materials ensure certain extent, later at times when To learn more about Phoenix Contact,
fast charging with direct current, the longevity of the charging cables. availability is low. visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

120 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 THE LARGEST UK EVENT
DEDICATED TO DESIGN
ENGINEERING
12-13 October 2022
Coventry Building Society Arena
@EngDesignShow #EngDesignShow
Celebrating 10 yea r s

Interested in exhibiting?
Get in touch with simon.bonell@markallengroup.com
for more information on our exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities.

HEADLINE SPONSORS

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www.engineeringdesignshow.co.uk
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Thermal control of EVs

Why temperature control simulations are key for EV battery developers

Thermal control of an EV
Temperature control simulation is key for components
starts with the very first step, such as inverters, motors, switch valves, and batteries.
which is charging of the battery.
Efficiency, level and repeatability of
the charge are all heavily influenced
by the temperature of the battery
during charge.
In a traditional internal
combustion engine (ICE) vehicle,
thermal management can be best
summarized as the removal of
excess heat from the combustion
process. However, within fully
electric vehicles or hybrid drives,
thermal management is significantly
more important and challenging.
There is an increasing range of
power inputs to vehicles, both AC
and DC, and here the battery
temperature itself needs to be
controlled, especially during rapid
charge, to prevent thermal runaway.
During the operation of the
vehicle, the range and lifetime of the
battery are massively influenced by

The Presto W56 process systems are able to work with standard water-
glycol mixtures and, thanks to various interfaces, can be integrated in all
kinds of test benches or quality measurement systems

the temperature, for manufacturers, turnkey solutions

example the AAA
reported that at -5°C
(23°F) EV battery life can
be reduced by up to 44%.
Julabo offers a
comprehensive range of
temperature control solutions to
simulate real world conditions so
that each component can be tested,
in research or in series production.
This includes the precise delivery
of engine coolant at both controlled
temperature and controlled flow
rate so that performance can be
assessed and proven in extreme
climatic conditions.
Julabo’s special projects division has a particular focus on customized
solutions in the automotive testing industry. For example, temperature The special projects division of
control systems with precise flow measurement and control Julabo has developed, in partnership
SCAN HERE TO with vehicle and component
VIEW ONLINE
to allow for the rapid cycling of
product, plus temperature profiling
across the entire automotive
temperature range. These includes
inverters, motors, switch valves and,
of course, batteries.
In addition, it has developed
solutions to allow for the
measurement of charge/discharge
cycles of batteries at different and
changing temperatures that allow
for the understanding of and
development of lifetime figures for
battery packs working under real
world conditions.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about Julabo,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

122 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 The world’s leading international showcase for
technology and innovation in electric, hybrid and
fuel-cell vehicle development and manufacture.
electric & hybrid vehicle technology international

July 2022
July 2022

Faster, cheaper, greener – the breakthrough battery

technologies that will transform car performance
MA Business Ltd

READY FOR THE SWITCH? MERCEDES ON A MISSION HYDROGEN’S NEW HEIGHTS

We take a look at the state of charging After two years of disruption to its testing A team of students have built the world’s
infrastructure in the UK and US to see program caused by Covid, Mercedes-Benz fastest fuel cell racecar to showcase its
if it’s prepared for mass EV adoption is back on the track with its electric line-up potential as the powertrain of the future

Cover 222 FINAL.indd 1 12/07/2022 15:44

PRINT • ONLINE • MOBILE

Subscribe for free at:
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

New EV testing solution

A new procedure pinpoints leaks, to confirm the integrity and safety
of battery enclosures at engineering and workshop levels

Battery and coolant leak detection (BCLD) tech is used by commercial EV makers Even miniscule battery leaks can cause catastrophic damage

The accelerated adoption of
battery electric vehicles has
left OEMs with numerous service
challenges such as the seal integrity
of the battery enclosure, battery
coolant system, motor housings and
other EV systems that are critical
to the longevity of the vehicle and
safety of the driver.
As new electric passenger and
commercial vehicles speed to
market, an urgent need has arisen
for procedures and tools to service
Electric commercial vehicle fleet
operators need the tools to quickly
service and repair battery enclosures
and repair battery enclosures to
ensure reliability and safety. New
battery and coolant leak detection
(BCLD) technology developed by
Redline Detection enables
technicians to detect if component
leaks are present and then pinpoint
precisely where miniscule leaks are,
ensuring systems are sealed to
factory-safe specifications.
As a first technology of its kind,
the tool is being used by both
automotive and heavy goods EV
makers in 160 countries as the
validated service procedure
following lid-off repairs, battery
exchange and any collision events.
When BCLD determines a leak is
present, the precise location is
pinpointed using a signature trace
gas, with molecules small enough
to locate a leak at .0005 PSI.
Live graphing and reports can be
accessed remotely and the machine
is programmable for future battery
configurations.
The need to pinpoint all leak
points in sealed EV systems is
urgent as it is well documented that
catastrophic thermal events in
battery systems can be caused by
water intrusion or debris intrusion
into the pack. Leaks of this type
can be attributed to faulty sealing
procedures during assembly. These
include: lapses in curing or storage
of sealed components; flex of packs
during transportation or installation
into vehicles; reinstallation of battery
packs after exchange; resealing of
battery packs and coolant systems
after routine lid off battery repair and
maintenance; collision of the vehicle
on any surface that results in force
into the battery containment unit;
normal road wear torsion such as
curbs and potholes; incorrect lifting
or towing of the vehicle which
results in stress to the frame and
battery enclosure.
At the workshop garage level,
in the past, leaks of this kind in a
traditionally aspirated propulsion
system would be detected by
pressuring the system and spraying
with soapy water to see bubbles or
using a visible vapor diagnostic leak
detector, often called a smoke
machine, to identify leaks. In battery
electric vehicles, the introduction
of a foreign material – soapy water
or the smoke created by the
vaporization of mineral oil – is
counter to the well documented
requirement to keep the battery
enclosure free of contaminants,
BCLD technology can pinpoint all leaks
therefore these procedures are
ineffective and ill-advised for this
application. The BCLD technology
reaches the goal of effective leak
detection and pinpointing all leaks
in the battery system without
introducing contaminants that could
cause further issues.
Developed with leading electric
vehicle OEMs, the BCLD technology
is uniquely designed to create a
continuity of testing from
engineering design, to end of line
testing, to the workshop setting to
ensure integrity of testing, proper
reporting and enhanced safety for
the life of the vehicle.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about Redline Detection,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

124 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

Plug-in at LH Carbide
for your e-Mobility
tooling needs

 Nearly 55yrs experience in

the electric motor industry
 Product development &
Prototyping capability to
help meet your needs
 Factory Acceptance Testing
in our EV stamping press
with 3.7m long bed length
 Supplying tools globally for
the EV/HEV/PHEV market

Contact: carbide@lhindustries.com Follow us

 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Electric terminal tractors

Why terminal tractors that run on battery power are
part of the leading edge of the electrified power industry

An electric powertrain presents a zero-emission, low maintenance, solution for terminal tractors Cummins’ new EV powertrain, the PowerDrive 8000

Terminal tractors, also called
yard spotters, are used to
transport trailers, box hauls and
shipping containers and are typically
found operating in intermodal
sectors such as ports and
warehouses. Yard spotters have
come a long way since their
introduction in the late 1950s and
are on the list for electrification.
Cummins, a power technology
company that has been synonymous
with internal combustion engines,
believes this small, but surprisingly
powerful, vehicle is an excellent
candidate for electrification.
Firstly, electric vehicles are
noticeably quieter than vehicles with
internal combustion engines, both
inside and outside the cab.
Operators benefit from lower,
Battery power off ers quieter, more efficient and more sustainable operation
near-silent, noise levels which may
help prevent long-term effects
related to noise pollution. Less noise
when operating also means the
vehicle is suitable for usage in both
urban and suburban locations.
Terminal tractors are typically
limited to a confined area of
operation so therefore eliminates
range anxiety. They transport cargo
containers from the ship to the
facility, but only exit that facility
on rare occasions. An electrified
terminal tractor uses a charger
onsite for continuous operation,
reducing the worry of running out
of power as the opportunity for
charging is easily accessible.
When it comes to duty cycle, the
stop-and-go nature of a terminal
tractor’s operation is intensive for
a diesel engine after-treatment
system, but this is not the case with
an electric powertrain. The electric
system improves the efficiency of
the entire process.
A yard spotter’s job usually
involves heavy payloads and short
distances. Performance-wise, an
electric powertrain’s combined
power and instant torque allows
these vehicles to transport products
and execute other duties more
effectively. Drivers can maneuver
more efficiently, all while reducing
wear on the servicing and
mechanical brakes.
Finally, from a sustainability
aspect, electric terminal tractors
have zero tailpipe emissions. Studies
show their internal combustion
equivalents waste fuel by idling their
engines for a substantial amount of
time. Electric terminal tractors save
gallons of wasted fuel and are more
energy efficient.
New uses for electrification are
becoming increasingly feasible as
technology advances and adapts to
the needs of the future. Cummins
has combined its previous
integration knowledge with its
expertise in drivetrain solutions
development for the terminal tractor
industry to build a new electric
powertrain that meets weight,
charge and range criteria for
terminal tractor application.
Cummins’ new enhanced
powertrain, the PowerDrive 8000,
includes new batteries, components
and a direct drive option that
operates more effectively with less
maintenance than traditional
combustion engine systems.
The shift to zero-emission
solutions for mobility is accelerating
quickly as increased incentives and
government regulations aid the
development of necessary
infrastructure and increase adoption.
Cummins recognizes that each
application has different demands
and requirements, which
necessitates a variety of
technologies to decarbonize the
mobility sector.
For some applications, the
technology and the use case are
here and now. For others, Cummins
is applying deep application
knowledge with advanced
technologies to develop alternative
power solutions across applications
to help achieve net-zero targets.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about Cummins,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

126 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

Charging Ahead
Littelfuse solutions enhance
safety, efficiency & reliability
for electric vehicles
Littelfuse helps you extend the life of your EV
charging equipment and improve the system’s
overall performance.

We offer guidance on what solutions work best for

your unique system and have insights on codes
and standards for the EV market.

Learn more at Littelfuse.com/evcharging

 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Lightweight EV
battery solution
Graphite’s material properties provide the key to
unlocking lightweight, long-life, and safe EV battery packs

Driving range is considered

by consumers as one of the
biggest factors when purchasing
any particular EV. For an electric
vehicle to offer the greatest range
achievable from its battery, it needs
to be as efficient as possible. SpreadShield graphite
heat spreader provides
Reducing weight is vital to delivering
thermal runaway
this, which is why EV manufacturers protection for safer and
are moving to graphite battery heat faster charging batteries
fins for weight reduction. The
innovative solution can help shed
up to 40kg per vehicle, providing
a stepwise increase in range.
NeoGraf Solutions, which
specializes in graphite heat
spreaders, is rolling out a line of
flexible graphite cooling fins to
the electric vehicle market. Its
SpreaderShield heat spreaders
are designed to replace traditional
aluminum cooling fins typically
found between the pouch or
prismatic cells of an EV battery
module. By replacing the thick and
heavy aluminum as the primary cell NeoGraf Solutions’ flexible graphite replaces aluminum for battery cooling fins to deliver
thermal management material with greater thermal performance as well as weighing less to help improve vehicle efficiency
graphite, OEMs can reduce between
20 to 40kg (44 to 88 lbs) of weight thickness of a traditional aluminum average pack hot-spot temperature, plastic laminate. This adds a high
per vehicle. fin. This results in the length of each allowing the pack to achieve its level of dielectric protection and
Graphite’s thermal performance is module shrinking by anywhere from escape time requirements. adds robustness to the graphite
greater than aluminum, while also 12 to 20mm (0.47 to 0.79in), allowing Secondly, it has cell-to-cell part. The parts are also coated on
having the benefits of measuring the pack size to shrink while still propagation control. This means one side with a thin and effective
half the thickness and a third of the maintaining the same amount of that if a cell fails, graphite channels adhesive. This allows the graphite
weight. Therefore, NeoGraf’s energy. As this smaller pack weighs the heat down to the cold plate and to be used as a simple peel-and-
SpreaderShield graphite heat less, it contributes to increased allows the failed cell to return to stick part.
spreaders have replaced aluminum driving range. thermal equilibrium without causing Graphite’s ability to make EV
as the standard heat spreader in As the need for battery safety neighboring cells to also fail. battery packs smaller and lighter,
high-end consumer electronics. becomes more critical, graphite also Designing with graphite becomes unlock greater driving range,
Its primary benefit is the provides protection in two important a simple drop-in to an existing provide faster charging, longer cell
lightweight material reduces the ways. Firstly, it has an extended aluminum heat fin design. The only life, and even thermal runaway
need to spend as much energy escape time. Adding a graphite heat difference is that the graphite is protection, this material is the future
carrying an overly heavy battery spreader between the modules and thinner, so the plastic cell carrier can of battery cooling.
pack. Meanwhile, a secondary the pack housing spreads out the also be reduced in size.
benefit is a reduction in the size of heat of a thermal runaway event. Graphite parts are laminated on FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
the individual battery modules. This allows the pack housing to both sides with a thin but tough To learn more about NeoGraf Solutions,
Graphite cooling fins are half the maintain its integrity and lowers the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

128 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

Pushing it to the Limit.

Pressure Test Stands for E-Mobility

The pressure cycling test bench for EV components
at –40 to +140 °C
Poppe + Potthoff Maschinenbau has developed
a pressure cycling test bench for efficient
endurance testing of media carrying vehicle
components. Temperature, volumetric flow
and pressure fluctuations can be programmed
freely in sinusoidal and trapezoidal shapes
Pressure test bench Function test bench and enable a fast and economic assessment.
(static and dynamic) (with high voltage systems)
The compact functional test bench puts heating
and cooling units for e-mobility to the test.
It measures with varying temperatures to deter-
mine the consumption and performance data
of heating and cooling systems to optimize their
efficiency.

Poppe + Potthoff Maschinenbau GmbH

An der Helme 26
D-99734 Nordhausen | Germany
Pressure cycle, flow and function test bench Phone: +49.36 31.46 22 10 22
(with temperature systems for ambient and liquid) E-mail: salesppm@poppe-potthoff.com
www.e-mobility-pruefstand.de
T H E P R E C I S I O N - M A K E R S www.poppe-potthoff.com
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Battery test evolution
The development of an end-to-end solution for high-performance battery testing,
analysis and optimization helps deliver reliable and reproducible results
In the past, the only
commercial products available
to evaluate battery performance
had been designed and built
specifically for lead acid vehicle
battery applications.
These were relatively high-power
units, without any high degree of
accuracy, they had limited test
programming capabilities and
collected data relatively slowly.
In the mid 1980s, when there was
resurgence in new battery
technologies, it became obvious
that the available battery test
systems were inadequate.
Maccor, a battery test systems
specialist, conceived an entirely
different design for a battery test
system. The result was a system
that provided extremely accurate
results, collected test data at high
speed, would test large numbers
of batteries at the same time, and
could be programmed to perform
virtually any test sequence required.
Recognized as one of the
pioneers of the modern battery test
130 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
industry, Maccor started operations
in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1986, as a
company dedicated to the
development of high-performance
battery test systems. With its
nucleus of engineers experienced
in emerging battery technologies
and computer control systems,
the company has experienced
continued and rapid growth.
Over the last thirty-three years,
its technology has become the
standard for most companies
involved in the research,
development, quality control, and
evaluation of cells and batteries for
a wide range of products and cell
chemistries. In 2009 Maccor moved
to a newer and larger facility due to
the increased demand in sales
volumes. In 2015 the new facility was
further expanded due to additional
increases in demand.
Maccor designs all its own
hardware and software. Most
systems are customized to meet
a customer’s specific requirements,
and from time-to-time customers
also request customized features
in the software. Over the years this
has provided a wealth of knowledge
and experience in the design and
performance of these systems. This
experience is being used to develop
systems for the future that will have
even higher levels of performance,
additional advanced features and
capabilities that utilizes new
computer technology.
Eight years ago, Maccor
announced an exclusive agreement
with The Scientific Instruments
business unit of Ametek Advance
Measurement Technology. Scientific
Instruments comprises the
Princeton Applied Research and
Solartron Analytical and Signal
Recovery businesses of Ametek
Advance Measurement Technology.
This agreement allows Princeton
Applied Research or Solartron
Analytical impedance analyzers to
be integrated with a Maccor test
system to perform EIS experiments
in-situ. These integrated solutions
result in higher productivity by
Maccor, which designs all of its
own battery testing hardware and
soft ware, has expanded its facilities
as a result of increased demand
switching automatically between
Maccor’s test equipment and
Ametek’s electrical impedance
instrument. They also provide
greater data integrity with more
reliable and reproducible test results
and reduce idle time and in-test
waiting caused from operators
having to move test devices from
one instrument to the other.
Over five years ago Maccor and
Voltaiq announced a joint marketing
agreement. Voltaiq is a supplier of
data analytics whose vision is to
provide an informatics platform
and expertise for optimizing energy
device performance throughout the
product life cycle. The Voltaiq
Battery Intelligence software
platform integrates seamlessly
with Maccor’s test equipment
providing a complete end-to-end
solution for battery testing, analysis,
and optimization.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about Maccor,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Automotive
noise monitoring
For electric vehicles to operate quietly and avoid intrusive sounds entering the cabin, acoustic
engineers must choose the right microphones to obtain test data to improve automotive design
The dilemma facing
manufacturers of electric
vehicles is that without an internal
combustion engine, many
operational noises are no longer
hidden and are more obvious.
These sounds now require intensive
investigation and testing by
automotive acoustic engineers to
find their causes and work towards
eliminating them.
One of the biggest challenges is
selecting acoustic instrumentation
that collects reliable data in
environments without reflecting
sounds. Such free-field microphones
are ideal for outdoor testing of
vehicles and component testing
in anechoic chambers. Small size
is important for both applications
as it makes installation easier. It is
particularly critical for anechoic
chamber testing where reflective PCB’s microphone technolgy used for brake noise testing
surfaces must be minimized.
The use of the same microphone 20 – 20,000 Hz, having capability Of particular concern is the hearing security and speed of data analysis
technology in various applications to significantly detect up to and loss usually associated with aging. are increased. The advantage of
provides significant cost-savings below the human range of hearing Consequently, EV manufacturers are using microphone arrays is that they
for test engineers in terms of setup, is essential to ensure the possible now being required to equip their provide a visualization of the
required data-collection extremes of human hearing is vehicles with warning noises at acoustic field and other parameters
instrumentation and time for data covered. Also critical is the noise lower speeds. The European such as sound pressure levels, noise
analysis. In the absence of extreme floor of the microphone itself, as parliament has set this speed at source location, sound intensity and
temperatures, a polarized such noise can distort test findings. 12mph or below, while the US particle velocity.
microphone might be the most These low-noise microphones National Highway Traffic Safety Ideally, the test data obtained
prudent choice. This technology typically specify inherent noise in Administration set 18.6 mph or through microphones will lead to
employs a low-noise, constant the area of 5.5 dB(A). below as their standard. improvements in acoustic vehicle
current power to the microphone The benefit of quiet performance Acoustic engineers tasked with design. However, this data needs to
via a flexible, inexpensive two wire of EVs is countered by the potential testing to these standards may use be evaluated in the context of
cable. For outdoor testing, an added hazard they pose to pedestrians an array of microphones that can be human perceptions of sound. The
benefit is that this coaxial cable can who are used to hearing the sounds linked together in large numbers, emerging fields of Psychoacoustics
be strung over long distances. of approaching vehicles. Their low with each device having Transducer and Soundscaping will bring us new
Microphones chosen for data noise performance poses a specific Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) and perhaps surprising information
collection must monitor wide threat to those with hearing capability. This allows individual about what sounds are perceived as
frequency ranges. Squeaks and impairments. The World Health identification of each microphone by pleasurable or irritable in a
rattles can range from 200 to 10,000 Organization, along with several location and allows the automatic cross-cultural context.
HZ, while road and wind noise can academic studies, suggest that mild transfer of data to computer
range from 200 to 2,000 HZ. to severe hearing loss is a global software for collection. FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
As the range of human hearing problem and varies considerably Errors due to labor-intensive To learn more about PCB Piezotronics,
is generally considered to be from from country to country. manual entry are eliminated, while visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

132 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

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 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

The shift to high-voltage

Alongside passenger cars, the heavy duty electric vehicle market
is also accelerating and requires support from high-voltage components

The move from low-and

medium-voltage systems to
high-voltage systems is one of the
biggest recent trends seen by the
automotive electric component
market, which has been accelerated
by the requirements of electric and
hybrid vehicles.
While the shift to high-voltage
systems has been led by passenger
vehicles, which is often the case for
new technologies for mobile
machinery, there has also recently
been a trend from other segments.
Some industries, such as
construction and agricultural which
have not had as much focus on EVs,
are now starting to put their R&D
effort into the electrification of
machinery and vehicles. In addition,
there’s increasing activity in the
electric heavy-duty truck market
with a number of projects in
development for major global OEMs.
MTA has been producing electric
components for automotive MTA develops high-voltage PDUs and Junction Boxes for electric passenger cars and trucks
applications and mobile machinery
since 1954, however this in new manufacturing technologies The HV PDUs are used to and to diagnose the status of the
development of electric products and lower CO2 emissions. distribute the power through the components of the interested lines.
for electrified systems has required MTA’s manufacturing processes vehicle and are developed for major The junction boxes developed for
a major shift in its R&D, purchasing have also needed to adapt and car and truck manufacturers. The car manufacturers are located inside
and manufacturing. adopt new techniques and housing is made of cast aluminum the battery pack and have a PCB
Its development teams have equipment such as special bays (with an increasing percentage of connected to the BMS (Battery
concentrated on a new set of to safely accommodate the tests at recycled raw material) to ensure Management System) of the vehicle.
characteristics, for example the the end of assembly lines. insulation from external agents In this way, the junction box can
consideration of special safety The most significative high and for optimal heat dissipation. convey the current from the battery
regulations that must be added to voltage products MTA develops for The latest developments for to the electric motor during driving
existing standards to handle high electric passenger cars and trucks heavy duty include a modular PDU or, in the recovery phase, it can
voltage current. are Power Distribution Units (PDUs) with integrated passive cooling recharge the batteries.
The company’s purchase office and Junction Boxes. systems, which are connected to As well as products developed for
had to start a complex search for One of the immediate differences the vehicle’s cooling system. The the new high-voltage architectures,
new suppliers for new, specific when moving from low- and PDU is very flexible and adaptable MTA is able to supply OEMs with a
materials; establish lasting medium- to high-voltage systems is to several truck platforms. It is made comprehensive range of electronic
relationship of trust with them; and the bigger size and additional weight of aluminum plates and an internal and power electronic products, such
afford new evaluation of the components. For example, resin layer insures ingress protection as displays, ECUs, on-board battery
and qualification processes. a fuse box, which in a low voltage and electrical insulation. chargers, and DC/DC converters for
MTA has been able to create a architecture would weigh The current trend, mainly for heavy duty applications.
short supply chain, mainly based approximately 200-300g, can be heavy duty applications, is an
in EMEA, achieving two main up to 10-times heavier and reach increasing interest for PDUs with FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
advantages: reduced design up to 2-3Kg or more in a high integrated electronics able to To learn more about EDN Group,
development times with experts voltage setup. manage communication protocols visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

134 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

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Specialized thermal management systems

As EVs continue to develop, the need for greater experience to know how the various specifications
range, improved safety (especially reducing the risk interact with one another and where those
of fire), and faster charging results in increasingly specifications can be carefully manipulated, often
complicated challenges that can test OEM design delivering a thermal management system that
teams. One factor contributing to this complexity exceeds the initial design criteria.
is thermal management. Electric motors, battery
packs, computer modules, and even charging
stations each require highly specialized thermal
management systems.
While OEMs have highly capable engineering
and design teams, it is difficult for any single
organization to have all the expertise needed
to create the best solution that will meet all the
project requirements. No matter how skilled a team
is, there will always be knowledge gaps. That is why
it is important for OEMs to consider collaborating
with a partner that can bring critical capability to
the table.
Small size, light weight, energy efficiency, high
performance, and low cost are common design FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
goals, which are often difficult to combine in a single To learn more about TLX Technologies,
solution. A capable knowledge partner has the visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

800V technology – a driver of change

For electric vehicles, optimized efficiency
and performance is more important than ever.
With its electrification strategy, Charging
Forward, BorgWarner focuses on providing
high-performing EV systems.
The company is off ering multiple
solutions for 800V electric
vehicles with a portfolio A second advantage of 800V is that
reaching from 800V inverters it is also an enabler to increasing the
and electric motors to an 800V battery pack charging rate by off ering
fully integrated drive module faster energy transfer at the same
and 800V coolant heaters for charging handle currents. A
vehicle thermal management. higher voltage, higher power DC
One major advantage of faster charger is needed to take
the 800V technology is the advantage of this potential.
ability to roughly double the Thanks to its in-house
power output of the propulsion development and in-depth
system at the same current expertise in manufacturing,
levels. This leads to higher BorgWarner can take a holistic
power output in a compact view of the entire architecture
format that avoids making to ensure system compatibility
conductors bulky due to the throughout the drivetrain.
higher currents that would be
required at 400V. The technology
is a major gain in gravimetric and
volumetric power density, and when
combined with its proprietary silicon carbide
power switch it becomes more efficient as well. FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about BorgWarner, visit:
www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

136 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Smart system architectures
The increasing electrification in mobility,
particularly commercial vehicles is resulting in
a higher number of larger loads and more complex
systems. The CAN bus, as a standard field bus in
the vehicle industry, is the ideal technology to
enable fast and uncomplicated data transmission.
The SCS (Smart Control Systems) portfolio
developed by E-T-A unites intelligent power
distribution and I/O modules with the ability
to communicate via CAN. The product portfolio
enables the digitalization of the vehicle electrical
system as well as the processing and analysis
FROM AC TO DC
of status data. The SCS family is used to
AND BACK USE
implement centralized and decentralized system
architectures, enabling customers to save space
UP TO 180 %
and to reduce wiring eff ort. Not only by providing OVERLOAD
diagnostic information, SCS products make a
decisive contribution to system transparency and CAPACITY
reduction of complexity.
For more than 70 years, E-T-A Circuit Breakers AND REDUCE YOUR
has been specializing in circuit breakers and
protectors, as well as solid state relays. Its product INVESTMENT*
off ering ranges from thermal circuit breakers to
complex power distribution systems.

FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE

To learn more about E-T-A, visit:
www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
OV
Easy pre-assembly of high-voltage cables LOAE

EVolution EMC is Agro’s new cable
gland for high-voltage cabling of
electric commercial vehicles and mobile
machines. The innovative connection
system, with its pluggable shield
contact design, facilitates quicker
installation in vehicle manufacturing,
with the cable glands reliably
pre-assembled in just five steps.
With the cable shield fully clamped
between a ring and a sleeve by
crimping, the protrusion of shield
strands is prevented. Thanks
to the decoupling of the sealing
function from the shield contact,
temperature- and vibration-related
impacts on shielding eff ectiveness
or current-carrying capacity are
avoided. Following pre-assembly,
the cable shield cannot be damaged.
RD
Furthermore, repairs can be carried
out without diminishing performance
because the cable shield is not
aff ected by repeated insertion and
the split sealing insert can be replaced
without disconnecting the conductor.
The cable glands, which are *Due to the unique design Heinzin-
available in sizes M20 to M32, achieve
ger ERS-BIC systems can deliver up
a current carrying capacity of up
to 180 % overload for 30 seconds.
to 195A without overheating. The
shielding eff ectiveness is at least
This means that short load peaks
86dB in the range from 30 MHz to
of a test cycle can be driven with
300 MHz. EVolution EMC off ers
a smaller and more cost-efficient
protection class IP 68 or IP 6K9K, ERS-BIC system. A load integrator
and is certified for temperatures from continuously calculates the overlo-
-40°C to +140°C (-40°F to 284°F). ad duration and protects the system
from damage due to overheating.
E.g. an ERS-BIC 1200-1200/250kW
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE nominal continuous power 250kW
To learn more about Agro, visit: can run 450kW overload for 30 se-
www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV conds.

Take advantage of more than 15

years of experience with test
equipment, innovative products and
short delivery times.

Heinzinger Automotive GmbH

Anton-Jakob-Str. 4
83026 Rosenheim (Germany)
P: +49 8031 2458 0
email: info@heinzinger-auto.com
www.heinzinger-auto.com
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Conformal coatings solve isolation challenges

Battery system design in electric and liquid UV-curable coatings are
vehicles is critical. Failure of this commonly used in electric and hybrid
system may not only result in vehicles. Parylenes provide excellent
performance and safety issues but barrier and dielectric protection; UV
may also endanger passengers. curable coatings also provide good
To mitigate such risk while also barrier protection.
increasing reliability, designers
must ensure that components (such
as cells, cooling mechanisms, bus
systems, and associated battery
management systems) are isolated
from each other and protected
against external environments.
Conformal coatings have been
used for decades to protect
automotive components and
designs. Many vehicle electronics
and components rely on conformal
coatings to solve specific isolation
challenges. The coatings are often
used to provide dielectric insulation
or create a barrier that protects
against moisture and corrosion.
Selecting the right conformal
coating depends on the isolation
needs and the environmental
conditions, such as exposure to
temperature extremes, gases,
etc. Parylene conformal coatings

FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE

To learn more about Specialty Coatings Systems,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

Battery simulation for performance and lifespan tests

Abuse tests, recycling of batteries and applications Various power classes from 160 to 600kW
in fuel cell development require discharging and are available from the ERS BIC series as individual
regenerating energy down to almost zero volt. Due to systems, which can also be connected in parallel
their topology, conventional bidirectional power supply to form high-power systems if required.
units sooner or later reach their limits and thus have a
limited work area. FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
Heinzinger electronic, which develops, produces and To learn more about Heinzinger, visit:
distributes high voltage and high current power supply www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
units for various industries and future markets such as
electro-mobility, has solved this challenge with a new
low-voltage option of the Heinzinger ERS BIC series.
By using internal switching elements, the output
stage of the ERS BIC can be automatically converted
into a 4-quadrant-power-stage via the remote
interface. With the 4-quadrant-output-stage,
regenerative operation can be performed at full
dynamic range and full current, down to nearly zero
volt. This makes the ERS BIC the ideal system for all
applications from fuel cells to battery submodules
to high-power batteries.

138 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 f-cell
The world’s only international review
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 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Leading the charge

Electrification is changing the way automobiles are
designed and built. What hasn’t changed are customer
expectations for a smooth ride, good quality, and
long-term durability. The evolution of battery design,
materials, and size, off set by the absence of a large
combustion engine and fuel tank, throws out the rule
book in terms of structural design.
Since the battery has become an important fraction
of the vehicle weight, using the pack as an integral part
of the vehicle structure is critical and an opportunity
to take advantage of technologies that both provide a
direct and lasting bond to the vehicle structure, as well
as reducing production time, material costs, and overall
vehicle weight.
Plexus structural adhesives use methacrylates unleash design freedom, in form factors, or joining
and other chemistries that are proven technologies dissimilar materials.
and have been specified in transportation, wind, ITW Performance Polymers works off er a full range
marine, and general industrial applications for of adhesive solutions for electric vehicle and battery
decades. Plexus adhesives are high strength, manufacturing. Along with structural adhesives, it
extremely fatigue and impact-resistant, and distribute supplies thermal management, gap filling, and potting
stress evenly throughout structures. Eliminating and encapsulating materials.
concentrated stress points like welds and fasteners
means assemblies will last longer and can use lighter FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
materials, but still perform better. Adhesives also To learn more about ITW Performance Polymers,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

Silicone foam for electronics and EV battery packs

The CHT Group has introduced
SilSo Lite 21025 – a two-part, room
temperature platinum cure,
self-blowing silicone foam which
creates a closed-cell structure.
CHT’s SilSo Lite 21025 is
designed to reduce weight – as well
as mitigate thermal runaway and
provide protection from moisture,
debris, vibration and shock for
electronic components and EV
battery packs. This silicone foam
is also ideal where low smoke,
flame and toxicity are required.
“The new, high performance
lightweight silicone materials
being developed by CHT will
help drive innovation across
many markets and applications
that utilize these materials,”
explains Phil McDermott, CTO
of CHT USA. “These materials
are designed to meet challenging
performance criteria while keeping
sustainability a key design factor.”
SilSo Lite 21025 features a
1:1 mix ratio and low viscosity,
enabling easy dispensing either
by cartridge or from an automated
mixing machine.
Addressing safety
requirements, SilSo Lite 21025
provides flame retardancy to help
mitigate a thermal runaway event.
Independent testing is in progress
to certify with a UL 94 V-0 rating.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about CHT, visit:
www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

140 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

 The world’s leading international showcase for
technology and innovation in electric, hybrid and
fuel-cell vehicle development and manufacture.
electric & hybrid vehicle technology international

July 2022
July 2022

Faster, cheaper, greener – the breakthrough battery

technologies that will transform car performance
MA Business Ltd

READY FOR THE SWITCH? MERCEDES ON A MISSION HYDROGEN’S NEW HEIGHTS

We take a look at the state of charging After two years of disruption to its testing A team of students have built the world’s
infrastructure in the UK and US to see program caused by Covid, Mercedes-Benz fastest fuel cell racecar to showcase its
if it’s prepared for mass EV adoption is back on the track with its electric line-up potential as the powertrain of the future

Cover 222 FINAL.indd 1 12/07/2022 15:44

PRINT • ONLINE • MOBILE

Subscribe for free at:
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 PRODUCTS & SERVICES
High torque axial-flux motor
After two years of development
and tests with key customers, Phi-
Power is introducing the Phi551.
The motor is designed to match the
torque and speed characteristics of a
diesel engine and has an SAE interface
for easy integration. The application-
proven axial flux motor technology
by Phi-Power results in a motor
length that is less than a third of a
conventional motor. This short length
is particularly attractive for hybrid
systems and applications where build
length is restricted.
With a weight of 135kg (297lbs),
it can deliver up to 200kW nominal
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
All the latest news
Video gallery ●
142 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
power at 2200 rpm with low cogging
and ripple torque.
The motor is water-glycol cooled
for easy integration into existing
cooling systems. Phi-Power off ers
customization including a through-
shaft version. At the moment, it
is available as a one-stage (single
core) version, but modularly stacked
motors are forthcoming catering
to even higher torque and power
requirements.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about Phi-Power, visit:
www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV
● Exclusive features ● Industry interviews ● Expert opinion
Recruitment section ● Digital edition and magazine archive
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

High power distribution
Rapidly improving battery technologies,
capacities and cost as well as increasing tendency
towards autonomous/driverless vehicles have
created a clear trend towards increased power
requirements for connectors in the automotive,
transportation, defense, aerospace, robotics and
motorsport industries.
The new Lemo M series ratchet coupling High
Power connectors are developed to satisfy the most
stringent connection requirements for High Power
distribution of electronic devices and electric drive
vehicles - essentially any system with electrical
motors, batteries and inverters where high torque
may be required for short or longer period.
Available in various sizes and configurations
providing maximum rated current ranging from
140A to 430A, all products are tested to MIL
Standards (MIL-STD-810F). Other features include
360° screening for full EMC shielding, a wide
temperature range of -55°C to 200°C (-67°F to
392°F), oil and fuel resistance, as well as high shock
and vibration resistance.
The new Lemo M series High Power portfolio
constitutes a comprehensive, compact, light,
rugged, safe, waterproof, and reliable interconnect
solution set for high power requirements.
Sealing, potting and bonding for battery cells and modules
The high-voltage battery is, alongside
the electric motor, the heart of an electric
car or hybrid vehicle. The battery cells must
be firmly bonded together to achieve their
performance. The adhesive bond between
the battery cells is applied with dispensing
equipment. The dispensing process enables
cost-eff ective and fast assembly of
prismatic, cylindrical, or pouch cells.
To achieve the best possible and longest
lasting adhesion, the battery cells are
pretreated with plasma to activate and
clean the surface before the adhesive is
applied. The battery modules generate
energy in the form of heat during operation.
This is dissipated by applying thermally
conductive materials between the battery
module and the aluminum cooler to prevent
overheating. The battery modules are
mounted in a housing and then sealed with
a lid. To prevent moisture from entering
the battery housing from the outside,
a liquid seal is applied between the lid and
the housing.
The sealant or glue needs to be dispensed
very precisely and perfectly matched with
robotic motion. Inconsistent dispensing
may lead to leaks and failures. Special care
shall be taken of the knit, for example, the
start/stop point of the bead. Eccentric
screw pumps with servo motors are pumps
particularly suitable for this purpose.
In addition to static mixing, a dynamic
mixing system can be used for those
applications where mixing quality is
crucial and material characteristics are
challenging, such as wide mix ratio, short
pot life and for significant diff erences
in viscosity between the base and the
catalyst.
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
To learn more about bdtronic, visit:
www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE

To learn more about Lemo, visit:
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www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2022 // 143

 PRODUCTS & SERVICES

A century of innovation
A.J. Rose Manufacturing was founded in 1922 by
Czech immigrant Anton J. Rose as a small tool shop on
the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. In 2022, it celebrates
its 100th year in business.
Its journey pivoted between various markets and
weathered the economic storms, always with the
primary focus of innovating within the industries it
was serving. Focusing on innovation, value and new
technology, the first products developed were small
fasteners, bomb fuses, brackets and stampings used
for wire brushes. The intention was always to be the
industry leader in mind-work and ingenuity, which is
the same approach it takes today.
The small tool shop soon took over an entire block
on Cleveland’s west side and it found its niche in the
automotive industry, thanks to precision and high
quality demanded by those customers. In 1995,
A.J. Rose continued to expand and built its global
headquarters just outside of Cleveland. The company major automakers as well as other industries.
later opened a location in India to increase its global A.J. Rose’s technologies, engineering expertise,
business and strengthen its position overseas. and adaptability has facilitated its fast adoption into
Today, A.J. Rose plays a major role in the automotive the electric and hybrid world of today’s automotive
FREE READER INQUIRY SERVICE
industry’s global supply chain, providing products to supply chain. To learn more about A.J. Rose Manufacturing,
visit: www.magupdate.co.uk/PEHV

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
3M...........................................................................................113
A J Rose ...................................................................................76
Accurate Technologies .......................................................... 46
Afton Chemical ........................................................................11
AGRO ........................................................................................78
Arteco Coolants ......................................................................74
B2BEV.com ........................................................................... 143
bdtronic ....................................................................................74
Battery Show North America .............................................111
Bel Power .................................................................................97
BorgWarner .......................................................................... 107
Carpenter Technology ........................................................... 58
Castrol ......................................................32, inside back cover
Chroma .....................................................................................71
CHT ...........................................................................................30
Coperion .................................................................................. 46
Cummins ................................................................................117
Dana ..........................................................................................91
Dewesoft .................................................................................63
Dow Silicones...........................................................................41
Dytran Instruments ...............................................................52
Engineering & Manufacturing Awards.............................. 133
Eaton ........................................................................................15
EDN Group ...............................................................................31
Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology International .... 4, 145
electrichybridvehicletechnology.com .............. 123, 141, 142
Engineered Machined Products ................outside back cover
Engineering Design Show ................................................... 121
E-T-A ........................................................................................ 68
EVera Recruitment .............................................................. 135
EVTech365 ............................................................................. 88
f-cell 2022............................................................................. 139
GROB-WERKE .........................................................................60
Heinzinger............................................................................. 137
Hioki Europe ............................................................................49
Helix ..........................................................................................78
InoBat ............................................................ inside front cover
Interplex...................................................................................28
ITW Performance Polymers ................................................. 88
Kerafol......................................................................................35
KG Technologies ......................................................................23
LEMO ........................................................................................66
LH Industries ........................................................................ 125
Littelfuse .............................................................................. 127
Maccor......................................................................................55
Magna.......................................................................................27
Marposs ...................................................................................76
NeoGraf ..................................................................................115
PCB Piezotronics ................................................................. 109
Phi-Power ............................................................................... 68
Phoenix Contact....................................................................119
Poppe + Potthoff ................................................................. 129
Redline Detection ...................................................................66
Specialty Coating Systems....................................................60
TLX Technologies ....................................................................52
UK EV Charging Infrastructure Symposium .......................81
Unico ...........................................................................................7
Vehicle Dynamics International ................................ 105, 139
VisIC..........................................................................................19
Waygate Technologies ........................................................ 131

144 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com

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 LAST WORD
To swap
or not?
Battery swapping has the potential to repower an electric vehicle in under
five minutes – so what is holding it back from wide-scale deployment?
Shazan Siddiqi, technology analyst at IDTechEx explains
I
n the pursuit of ever faster charging times, the fastest
charge is the one you don’t have to do. Battery swapping
technology has drastically improved and swapping
station costs have decreased, which can address a lot of the
shortcomings of cable-based charging infrastructure.
Battery swapping can replace an EV depleted battery
with a fully charged one at a swapping station within three
to five minutes. The main benefit of swapping is this time
saving, with charging comparable to refi lling a car at a
gas station, which is the end goal for the EV industry.
However, a major requirement to enable swapping is
standardized battery architecture. This requires OEMs
to create a common specification for battery form
factors to allow them to be swapped between different
makes and models. Also, to achieve the best in range,
weight, handling, and performance OEMs have integrated
the packs into the design of the vehicles themselves – this
is perhaps the biggest reason holding swapping back. But
the positives could outweigh the negatives.
The fastest DC chargers today can charge an EV to 80%
in around half an hour, but in that time swap stations could
charge dozens of EVs to 100% – without a driver having to
leave their car or handle heavy cables.
By decoupling the cost of the battery from the vehicle the
purchase price of EVs can be lowered. Removing this from
the sticker price of an EV helps OEMs addressing the initial
price pain point for customers. This allows manufacturers
to tap into the highly sought-after mid-tier price point.
Cable-based charging infrastructure comes with energy
grid concerns. However, swapping stations can actually act
as grid support units and participate in peak shaving and
trough fi lling. They can also function reliably off-grid in the
case of power outages by using the stored batteries to power
the station.
146 // July 2022 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
Swapping can help futureproof vehicles as the method
enables OEMs to keep up with ever evolving battery
chemistries. New battery models can be added to the
circulation network to enable quick upgrades to user
vehicles. Furthermore, different batteries could be offered
to give users different ranges to suit their needs, this is
something Nio has already offered in China.
Finally, retired batteries can be safely removed from the
circulation system for recycling.
There are still massive hurdles to be overcome before
battery swapping can be widely deployed. The biggest
of these arguments against swapping is the high
infrastructure cost including citing, permits,
operation, and maintenance.
Then, there is the issue of standardization.
Manufacturers build their vehicles based on proprietary
designs. Using a standard format battery pack for all models
would limit the manufactures flexibility and innovation.
Given the battery structure accounts for a major part of the
vehicle design it will be hard to persuade OEMs to embrace
a standardized battery pack to facilitate automated
swapping. It’s a very big ask for all automakers to give up
their IP. The general trend towards structural batteries and
cell-to-pack technologies will make battery swapping even
harder to implement. And there are questions around who
is responsible should a battery become defective.
Currently, the industry outlook on battery swapping is
that the scales are tipped against it, only seen benefitting a
niche vehicle market. However, this could be short-lived
and once OEMs take into account the benefits of swapping,
it could act as a complement for a public charging solution
in dense urban centers for fleets, heavy duty EVs, two-and-
three-wheelers, as well as specific applications when a quick
turnaround time is required.
 The road to EV readiness,
for markets, carmakers
and consumers
For the purposes of this study EVs refers to fully electric vehicles
(also known as battery electric vehicles), unless otherwise stated.

10,000 100 Consumers Automotive

executives
10 Key markets

The proportion of Global 53%

China 80%
consumer survey Nordics 69%

respondents UK 51%
Japan 50%
considering an Turkey 49%

EV for their next France 48%

vehicle: ANZ
US 46%
48%

India 44%
Germany 42%
Based on opinion research data of 10,000 consumers.

Transition accelerators and roadblocks

ICE and hybrid consumers:
Accelerator 1 Accelerator 2 Accelerator 3

More convenient with

Lower air pollution Lower running costs
home charging option

Acce
ler a t or
Ro ad s
block s

Low prevalence of ultra- Availability of charging

Concerns about range
fast charging infrastructure

Roadblock 1 Roadblock 2 Roadblock 3

Visit castrol.com/EV
to download the study
 HIGH VOLTAGE
STRAIGHT AHEAD

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