JackFlorey
100 kW
News from the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference in San Diego:
There was the usual "coming-soon" about silicon anode, lithium metal, sodium and sulfur, and solid state batteries. Silicon anode will be here Any Day Now, with several companies offering test cells (but with lifetimes in the 100-200 cycle range.) Still might be an option for racers. Enovix will have si-anode cells for portable devices by 2022 and for EV's by 2025 (they claim.) They are claiming >500 cycles but again no cells available yet.
I was excited about the GM Ultium battery system. Ultium is a skateboard type platform for GM's EV's. The (flat) battery box contains their modules. The reason it's exciting is that they are designing for second life use, which means that they will be usable for aftermarket applications like ebikes. Some details:
Ultium modules will have 12 (prismatic) or 24 (pouch) cells
Typical battery packs will have 8 to 24 modules - so doing a little guesswork each module will be about 6-8 kwhr
They developed a wireless BMS with ADI, and they are planning to document the interface
Modules are 2p12s or 3p8s - 48 or 32 volt - they are calling 12s "48V" but they are really 43V packs. Still a usable voltage.
Full battery packs will be switchable between 400 and 800 volt, to support both cars and trucks (currents for large trucks get unmanageable at 400 volts.) All likely NMC 8-1-1 lithium chemistries.
Several companies offer EIS (noninvasive electrical) inspection services for used cells, and two companies now offer ultrasonic inspections for used cells. Both will be useful for ebike pack integrators trying to use second life cells.
There was the usual "coming-soon" about silicon anode, lithium metal, sodium and sulfur, and solid state batteries. Silicon anode will be here Any Day Now, with several companies offering test cells (but with lifetimes in the 100-200 cycle range.) Still might be an option for racers. Enovix will have si-anode cells for portable devices by 2022 and for EV's by 2025 (they claim.) They are claiming >500 cycles but again no cells available yet.
I was excited about the GM Ultium battery system. Ultium is a skateboard type platform for GM's EV's. The (flat) battery box contains their modules. The reason it's exciting is that they are designing for second life use, which means that they will be usable for aftermarket applications like ebikes. Some details:
Ultium modules will have 12 (prismatic) or 24 (pouch) cells
Typical battery packs will have 8 to 24 modules - so doing a little guesswork each module will be about 6-8 kwhr
They developed a wireless BMS with ADI, and they are planning to document the interface
Modules are 2p12s or 3p8s - 48 or 32 volt - they are calling 12s "48V" but they are really 43V packs. Still a usable voltage.
Full battery packs will be switchable between 400 and 800 volt, to support both cars and trucks (currents for large trucks get unmanageable at 400 volts.) All likely NMC 8-1-1 lithium chemistries.
Several companies offer EIS (noninvasive electrical) inspection services for used cells, and two companies now offer ultrasonic inspections for used cells. Both will be useful for ebike pack integrators trying to use second life cells.