In Germany, the European battery research project Spartacus has published a positive interim report one year after it was first initiated for the development of advanced battery sensors and cell management systems. The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research in Würzburg is acting as project coordinator.
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The recently launched collaborative project HiQ-CARB aims to provide new carbons with superior performance and a low carbon footprint for future green batteries in Europe.
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The ‘Spartacus’ project has recently started to develop advanced sensors and cell management systems for batteries. The researchers hope to be able to reduce charging times by up to 20 per cent without compromising the reliability and service life of the batteries.
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The European large-scale research initiative Battery 2030+ presents its roadmap to inventing the green batteries of the future. The Fraunhofer R&D Center for Electromobility at the Fraunhofer ISC in Wuerzburg coordinates the project that defines three key areas.
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As part of the EU-funded ECO COM’BAT, ten partners from industry and research have been working on more sustainable high-voltage lithium-ion batteries since April 2016. As the project coordinator Fraunhofer ISC now communicates: apparently with success.
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At the beginning of the year, the Fraunhofer Institute ISC and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) launched a joint research project called IE4B to create the basis for production-ready solid-state batteries for electric cars.
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In the EU funded project AutoBatRec2020 (Automotive Battery Recycling 2020) research has begun to look into ecologically and economically beneficial methods of battery recycling for electric vehicles.
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Researchers at Fraunhofer ISC have embarked on a collaborative effort to develop a low-cost method for mass production of solid-state batteries using sol-gel. Funded with 3.2 million euros, first results are due in a year with the project running until 2020.
Read moreNovel battery tech for iCar: Apple is working with an anonymous Korean battery maker on cells of a new kind to power the Apple EV, ETNews reports. Designed as hollow cylinders, the batteries are said to enable new cooling possibilities for Project Titan. Capacity could be further increased through parallel connections. The Koreans have signed a NDA with Apple. The latter will likely push for exclusivity.
etnews.com, macrumors.com, cultofmac.com
Fraunhofer ISC partners with Hydro-Québec: Together the two companies want to research and develop next-generation lithium-ion and lithium-air battery materials to be used in electric transport. The focus is on inorganic solid electrolytes, glass-ceramic electrolytes in particular.
isc.fraunhofer.de
Recuperation from suspension: Audi is working on an electromechanical rotary dampening system. eROT replaces hydraulic dampers with electromechanical rotary dampers that have the potential for energy recuperation from the suspension.
greencarcongress.com, audi-mediacenter.com
HVH for CVs: Webasto will present a prototype of its electric High-Voltage Heater (HVH) for light-duty commercial vehicles and trucks at the IAA. It features a heating capacity of 10 kW, allowing for more effective heating, esp. in PHEV and electric vans. The HVH contains no rare earths.
automotiveworld.com
Autopilot updates: Since the fatal accident with Tesla’s Autopilot, news keep coming in. Now, the U.S. Senate has asked Elon Musk to answer a few questions in person. Europe remains calm so far as the Dutch authority that approved the feature in the first place has “no safety concerns” given users would understand it as a driver assist system and not a self-driving system. A driver from Pennsylvania claiming the Autopilot was active in an accident was proven wrong.
autoblog.com (U.S. Senate), electrek.co (Europe), insideevs.com (Pennsylvania)
Next-gen battery material: The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC and Hydro-Québec will research and develop novel lithium-ion and lithium-air battery materials for electric transport applications. Their focus is on inorganic solid electrolytes, in particular glass-ceramic electrolytes.
isc.fraunhofer.de
American chargers for China: Evatran and Zhejiang VIE Science and Technology Company (VIE), have formed a joint venture. VIE is to integrate Evatran’s wireless EV charging technology Plugless into its existing OEM network in China. It will become available there by 2017.
greencarcongress.com
Hybrid kits allowed: India’s government has permitted retrofitting of old vehicles to turn them into hybrids. It now looks to certify manufacturers of such kits and authorise installers as well.
indiatimes.com, overdrive.in
Why do batteries age? Three years ago, researchers at the Fraunhofer ISC set out to answer that question, looking in detail at Li-ion batteries in electric cars. They found that mainly rapid charging and cell design are to blame. Detailed results ABattReLife EU project were now published.
sciencedirect.com
Battery research centre: The Chinese government will invest 500 million yuan (76.6m dollars) in a R&D centre, as it strives to push local production of batteries for electric vehicles. Companies, universities and institutions are encouraged to cooperate.
chinadaily.com.cn
Stationery storage study: A three-stage research project by TU Delft will look at powering houses with stationery batteries. The projects will be set up together with Eneco, who wants to become the Tesla Powerwall distributor in the Netherlands. Fields of study include power management and EV charging.
nltimes.nl
Long life: The Max Planck Institute and the University of Science and Technology of China have developed a long-life sodium battery that still has 96 percent capacity after 2,000 charging cycles. Scientists used a mixture of graphene oxide and nanotubes made of carbon to improve the sodium compound’s conductivity.
greencarcongress.com
