Battery

AI and battery management systems

AI is with us and it’s being incorporated into battery management systems (BMS), but its implementation faces challenges, writes Peter Donaldson. Machine learning (ML) is applied to improve the accuracy of state estimation, with neural networks and support vector machines analysing historical data, and driving patterns and environmental conditions to estimate, predict and optimise battery states of charge, health and power.

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Battery leak testing

Peter Donaldson delves into the world of battery leak testing. With the exception of old, British motorbike engines – it was said that if they’re not leaking, there’s no oil in them – leaks from anything are usually a sign of a problem. The escape of liquids such as coolant and electrolyte are undesirable, and the emission of gases can be the first warning sign of a thermal runaway.

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Scania enhances e-bus offering with new e-machine, battery and charging options

Scania’s new e-machine is fully adapted to the company’s complete battery-electric bus platform. Four power options are now available, and an integrated two- or four-speed gearbox, offering an impressive combination of increased performance and efficiency, flexibility and zero emissions. A further battery option has been added, and a charging interface at the rear of the bus will quicken power uptake.

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Multi-chemistry batteries

A little over a year ago, a BMW iX electric SUV fitted experimentally with a dual-chemistry Gemini battery pack from Our Next Energy (ONE) drove 978 km (608 miles) on a single charge – an impressive achievement for such a large, heavy car, writes Peter Donaldson.

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Dürr, Cellforce and LiCAP team up for dry electrode tech

Dürr Systems and LiCAP Technologies are working together to revolutionise the production of battery cells, traditionally reliant on wet coating, with the sustainable Activated Dry Electrode technology.

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Brady sensors offer battery temperature warning

Electric vehicle (EV) lithium battery fires in facilities such as factories, warehouses, parking structures and ships, though rare, are lethal and destructive when they happen, but remote monitoring of battery temperature can provide a timely warning of a developing problem, writes Peter Donaldson.

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Henkel’s Battery Engineering Center

Primarily known as a producer of chemical solutions across a number of different industries, German multinational group Henkel has launched a Battery Engineering Center (BEC) within its Inspiration Center Duesseldorf, aimed at providing strategic partnerships to OEMs and battery manufacturers (and others in the e-mobility space) through the BEC and its services and products there. […]

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Magnesium electrolyte sparks next-generation battery design

University of Waterloo researchers have made a key breakthrough in developing next-generation batteries made of magnesium instead of lithium. When the idea to create batteries using magnesium was first shared in a seminal academic paper in 2000, the novel design didn’t provide enough voltage to compete with lithium-ion batteries.

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Wireless BMS built with ultra-wideband tech

NXP Semiconductor has developed the first battery management system (BMS) using ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, writes Nick Flaherty. Using wireless connections between battery cells and the BMS in a pack simplifies assembly and enables better energy density.

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Battery cell manufacturing

There are three major phases of activity for manufacturing battery cells, as Nick Flaherty reports Moving from small coin cells that prove the performance of a battery chemistry in the laboratory to production is a big step. There are many different ways to construct a cell, and many techniques for both building and characterising the resulting battery.

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