E-Mobility Engineering | November/December 2023 19 Xerotech battery system | Dossier science, aiming for openness on par with IC engine manufacturers. Why such technological transparency? One reason is to back up the claims made in its test data. But Xerotech also estimates that the wider EV battery industry’s guardedness about the contents and manufacturing of its packs results in timescales of 18 months on average for customers to receive initial units of a new pack, slowing electrification efforts. Transparency is therefore key to enabling Xerotech’s shorter lead times. Cell technologies Xerotech is agnostic regarding battery cell chemistries, partly in response to the rapidly changing nature of cell components and formulations. As Dr Flannery explains, “Cells have four key ingredients: anode, cathode, separator and electrolyte. Change any of those and you change the battery’s characteristics. What many people know as lithium-ion cells is actually a broad family, designated mostly by the cathode, of which NMC is the most widely used. 104 kg with dimensions of 561 x 511 x 430 mm, and designed for a 60-101 V output range (86 V nominal). Xerotech also records and publishes huge amounts of data from inhouse testing, including charge and discharge maps across 0-100% SoH and 0-100% SoC (graphed in increments of 5% at a time) and also across full temperature ranges as tested for regulatory compliance. These are published for cell, module and pack-level characteristics. It is also making public the IP on its pack engineering and Xerotech’s Hibernium packs are manufactured for off-highway uses such as construction and mining EVs, where electrification depends on highly diverse pack designs that are cost-optimised for low-volume production (Images courtesy of Xerotech)
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