ISSUE 012 Winter 2021 Sigma Powertrain EMAX transmission dossier l In conversation: David Hudson l 48 V systems focus l 2021 Battery Show North America and Cenex-LCV reports l Everrati Porsche 911 digest l Switching insight l Motor laminations focus

the exception of its support boats,” Andy Andrews told us. “Most sailing clubs and events largely use RIBs that are old and produce a lot of diesel emissions. There are about 10,000 such boats in the UK. “So, three years ago, RS Electric Boats started developing the Pulse 63. All the supply chains are secured, with components made entirely in the UK. Production will begin this December and the pre-ordered units will start shipping out in Q1 next year.” The boat is powered by a 40 kW, 60 kg, 95%-efficient electric motor from RAD Propulsion. Andrews described it as an outdrive unit, with the motor housed in a floor-level box on the stern, enabling a clear, workable transom at the rear of the deck. The Pulse 63 has eight 50 V Hyperdrive batteries with 5.75 kWh. They are sealed against moisture ingress in an IP54-rated enclosure. “The Pulse 63 has a top speed of about 25 knots, which is the maximum operational performance speed that most commercial and leisure RIB users require,” Andrews added. “It has an endurance of more than 2 hours between charges, and a 40-minute charge will replenish 70% of the battery capacity.” In addition to sailing clubs, the company will be supplying its electric RIBs to environment agencies, harbour masters, river authorities and other organisations. Panasonic Electric Works UK showcased its new HE-R family of relays, which have been designed to meet regulatory changes regarding three-phase EV chargers. “The new standard, EN62955, is bringing a higher safety requirement for handling increased inrush and surge values, especially since surge values are far higher than they used to be when the old legislation was still in force,” explained Rob Dixon. “Surges of 1800 A or more are now quite feasible, so systems have to be able to survive that. Our HE-R relays have been in development for the past couple of years, and are now commercially available. EN62955 will become mandatory in a couple of years, so EV manufacturers need to work quickly to comply with it.” Dixon added that testing EV components for compliance with EN62955 requires a testing laboratory connected to the national grid, in order to supply enough power for surge monitoring, and that very few such facilities exist around the world. “Luckily though we’ve partnered with a lab in Germany that has access to enough energy for shocking our relays with 1800 A of current,” he noted. Alvatek attended the show to present Novonix’s new High Precision Cycler, a battery testing device designed around using ultra-high precision coulometry to conduct short experiments that produce reliable long-term performance predictions. “Essentially it measures, very accurately, what the charge and discharge capacities of a given battery are, and by extension it determines the capacity degradation and lifetime of different EV battery materials much faster than a traditional cycler,” explained Jack Mitchinson. The cyclers measure coulombic efficiency of battery cells to less than 20 ppm of noise and to 50 ppm accuracy, while applying charge and discharge cycles over a range of 0-5 V, with either constant current or constant voltage. John G Peck Ltd (JGPL) is a UK distributor for power electronics component manufacturers including Mitsubishi Electric and Mersen. It ShowReport | Cenex-LCV 2021 Some of the components in the Mersen product range displayed a range of its clients’ products including new EV-qualified fuses, laminated busbars, capacitors and semiconductors. “Mitsubishi’s automotive power semiconductors feature a special internal construction to enhance their thermal and power cycling capabilities, such as pin-fin cooling, fast overcurrent detection and on-chip temperature sensing to enable quick shutdowns that prevent stressing the modules if an overload situation arises,” said Marcel Ranade. The company also showcased a series of laminated busbars from Mersen, for inverters and battery cells. The inverter busbars are designed to enable easy-to-assemble, low- inductance and thus high-reliability connections between power switches (SiC, IGBT) and DC-link capacitors. Similarly, Mersen’s battery cell busbars offer a highly customisable and flexible way to configure series-parallel arrangements at the cell level, and cover most cell types. Using them can enable EV engineers to achieve a compact and highly reliable battery pack to be designed with reduced manufacturing time and wiring complexity. They can include integrated temperature sensing and voltage shunts brought out via a flexible PCB, to allow easy connection to a BMS. Connections to the busbars can be made via screw connections, or with laser welding (with the newly introduced Infin Cell busbars). For EV and battery pack applications, JGPL also presented Mersen’s range of EV-qualified fuses, which are now available from 500 to 1000 V and 5 to 800-plus A. 48 Winter 2021 | E-Mobility Engineering