THE COMMUNICATIONS HUB OF THE ELECTRIFIED POWERTRAIN Read all back issues and exclusive online-only content at www.emobility-engineering.com ISSUE 024 | MAR/APR 2024 UK £15 USA $30 EUROPE €22 Protective housing The pursuit of power Polymers offer lasting cover for components Inverters take more control Porsche gets wet Marine applications for its most advanced e-powertrain
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50 Deep insight: Power semiconductors New materials have emerged alongside silicon that shave a wider electron bandgap, giving higher performance 58 Focus: Inverters Manufacturers are including more intelligent features in the push to reduce energy losses and eke more mileage from a battery charge 66 PS: Bipolar batteries The first bipolar lead-acid battery appeared in the early 1920s and showed performance gains. Things have come a long way since 4 Intro Materials matter, especially as vehicles seek to go lighter and faster, whether on the ground or up in the air. We take a look at thermoplastics, potting, inverters and in-wheel motors 6 The Grid NASA’s revolutionary brake disc design, Clean Sky’s hybrid electric-propulsion system, lithium-metal batteries with greater range, a Korean polymer cell separator, plans for UK eVTOL airport recharging, and more… 14 In conversation: Michael Fischer Honda R&D Europe’s deputy general manager reveals how he is working to make zeroimpact emissions a reality 18 Dossier: Frauscher x Porsche The car brand sets sail with an Austrian shipyard to launch an all-electric nine-person yacht, the 850 Fantom Air 28 Focus: Polymers Light, durable and flexible, thermoplastics are able to withstand high temperatures – ideal for e-powertrains 36 Insight: Potting & encapsulation How electrical and electronic parts can handle the stresses and strains of hard use with these coating processes 44 Digest: BEDEO van conversion A unique in-wheel motor technology that can add an e-powertrain to existing diesel vans, with the option to go all-electric 28 58 18 36 3 E-Mobility Engineering | March/April 2024 March/April 2024 | Contents
THE COMMUNICATIONS HUB OF THE ELECTRIFIED POWERTRAIN Read all back issues and exclusive online-only content at www.emobility-engineering.com ISSUE 024 | MAR/APR 2024 UK £15 USA $30 EUROPE €22 Protective housing The pursuit of power Polymers offer lasting cover for components Inverters take more control Porsche gets wet Marine applications for its most advanced e-powertrain Material magic Publisher Nick Ancell Editorial Director Ian Bamsey Technology Editor Nick Flaherty Production Editor Vickie Johnstone Contributors Peter Donaldson Rory Jackson Technical Consultants Ryan Maughan Danson Joseph Dr Nabeel Shirazee Design Andrew Metcalfe Ad Sales Please direct all enquiries to Nick Ancell nick@highpowermedia.com Tel: +44 1934 713957 Subscriptions Please direct all enquiries to Frankie Robins frankie@highpowermedia.com Tel: +44 1934 713957 Publishing Director Simon Moss Marketing & PR Manager Claire Ancell General Manager Chris Perry Office Administrator Lisa Selley Volume Six | Issue Two March/April 2024 High Power Media Limited Whitfield House, Cheddar Road, Wedmore, Somerset, BS28 4EJ, England Tel: +44 1934 713957 www.highpowermedia.com ISSN 2631-4193 Printed in Great Britain ©High Power Media All rights reserved. Reproduction (in whole or in part) of any article or illustration without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. While care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information herein, the publisher can accept no liability for errors or omissions. Nor can responsibility be accepted for the content of any advertisement. SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions are available from High Power Media at the address above or directly from our website www.highpowermedia.com. Overseas copies are sent via air mail. EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITIES Do you have a strong technical knowledge of one or more aspects of e-mobility systems? As we grow we are on the lookout for experts who can contribute to these pages. If that sounds an interesting challenge then don’t hesitate to explore the possibility of writing for us by emailing ian@highpowermedia.com ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES If you are looking to promote your company to engineers active in the electrification of vehicles, we have various advertising packages available to suit your needs. With a maximum of 25% of the publication allocated to advertising we offer a unique opportunity to become one of E-Mobility Engineering’s exclusive advertising partners, ensuring you are not lost in a crowded market. To discuss the opportunities and how we can work with you to promote your company please contact Nick Ancell nick@highpowermedia.com +44 1934 713957 THE COMMUNICATIONS HUB OF THE ELECTRIFIED POWERTRAIN SUBSCRIBE TODAY visit www.highpowermedia.com ALSO FROM HPM Every engineer knows materials matter. This is even more important as e-mobility platform designers tackle the weight of vehicles – on the ground and in the air. New thermoplastics are providing a lighter alternative to steel and even aluminium, offering thermal and EMI interference advantages, as discussed on page 28. They’re even helping to reduce the size and weight of motors by replacing enamel on rotor wires. New potting materials used for power systems are helping to reduce the size and weight (page 36) of the next generation of power devices (page 50), giving higher energy densities, which is key to the latest developments for inverters (page 58). In the air, the invention of high-temperature materials is opening up new design options, while on the ground, new plastics are allowing the installation of high-power fast chargers for airfields (Grid, page 6). With Protean now part of Bedeo, we look at the use of in-wheel motors (page 44) as an additional way of reducing the weight and size of electric truck designs and other platforms. Nick Flaherty l Technology Editor EME Update Each month the E-Mobility Engineering e-newsletter provides a snapshot of the top stories on our website during the previous month. To keep up to date with the latest technological developments, sign up today at www.emobility-engineering.com/e-newsletter 4 March/April 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering Intro | March/April 2024 Read all back issues online www.ust-media.com UST 54 : FEB/MAR 2024 UK £15, USA $30, EUROPE €22 Visions of the deep How uWare Robotics is making a splash with the fully agile, smart uOne Secure swarms New radio tech connecting them further Power mapping Navigating the fusion of inertial data ELECTRIC, HYBRID & INTERNAL COMBUSTION for PERFORMANCE ISSUE 151 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 The future is now Exploring AM machines Power to the dirt Winning in Motocross Pushing the twostroke A Kawasaki odyssey www.highpowermedia.com UK £15, US/CN $25, EUROPE €22
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6 The Grid NASA tech lands for brake systems Orbis Brakes in the US has licensed a NASA-patented technology for lightweight braking systems in electric vehicles, writes Nick Flaherty. The revolutionary brake disc design is at least 42% lighter than conventional cast-iron rotors, with performance comparable to much more expensive carbon-ceramic models. Reducing the mass of wheels means a vehicle will use less energy to brake and accelerate. Conventional brake discs are heavy because they consist of two metal plates, cooled by air circulating between them. The design is inefficient because it’s the outside surfaces that are heated by friction with the brake pads, whereas the air cooling takes place on the inside surfaces, where the plates face each other. The new technology was developed by Jonathan Lee, a structural materials engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre in Huntsville, Alabama, who was working on the Space Launch System. The design started with a single disc with a series of small fins around the central hub. As they spin, these draw in air and push it across the surface of the disc, where the brake pads make contact, cooling the rotor, as well as the pads and calipers. Several long depressions around the braking surfaces, radiating from the centre, create the regular pattern. The spinning fins and centrifugal force of the wheel push air into the depressions, causing a turbulent airflow that draws away heat. “When the air flings out, it goes across the brake caliper and cools it – no conventional rotor is capable of doing that,” said Lee. Trenches in the braking surfaces increase the available surface for air cooling by over 30% and reduce the disc weight while boosting friction. The troughs draw away more than just heat. Water and road debris getting between the pad and rotor are equally problematic, so the trenches provide a place for the air vortex to push any substance out of the way. Unwanted material can escape through a small hole at the end of each one. A second, periodic wave is cut along the disc’s outer edge. By replacing the conventional, circular design with an undulating pattern, the rotor has more surface area that will come into contact with the cool air flowing over it. This extra heat dissipation will occur no matter which periodic wave pattern is used. A thin layer of black coating applied to surfaces that don’t come into contact with the brake pads can help the rotor radiate extra heat. This three-part cooling system – convection powered by airflow, conduction of heat across the metal rotor, and radiation from darkcoated surfaces – has never been used effectively on any conventional disc brake rotor before, said Lee. The new design can dramatically improve reliability and reduce particulate emissions. “When brake pads exceed a certain critical temperature, depending on their materials, they can emit a 10,000-fold increase in toxic nanoparticulates,” said Marcus Hays, co-CEO of Orbis Brakes. Orbis is currently testing its EcoWave brake design to ensure it will not create that kind of emission. The initial NextWave brakes are being offered as aftermarket replacements for Tesla vehicles, enabling faster stops and better directional changes. The company is developing two more lines: LightWave will combine the NextWave rotor with a lightweight caliper, while CarbonWave will be exclusively for EVs. BRAKES March/April 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering NASA technology for braking (Image courtesy of Orbis)
The Grid 7 Hybrid electric propulsion passenger aircraft A European project is developing a new propulsion system for medium-range aircraft with up to 35 passengers, writes Nick Flaherty. Several Fraunhofer Institutes and Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, under the leadership of Rolls-Royce Germany and other partners such as research institution ACCESS, are collaborating on the hybrid electric-propulsion system. The Clean Sky programme aims to use a gas turbine that generates electrical energy, which charges intermediate battery storage; the aircraft draws its electrical energy from this storage for propulsion. This technology uses larger, slower-rotating rotors that produce less noise on the ground, creating a significantly smaller noise footprint than conventional propulsion aircraft. The modular structure of the proposed concept also allows for the future use of alternative fuels or entirely new power sources. By mid-2026, the partners aim to develop manufacturing technologies for hybrid electric-propulsion components, qualify existing technologies for use in the air and produce prototype components. One ambitious goal is to significantly shorten the lead times from the finished design of a functional prototype from several months to a few weeks. Other projects involve creating highly flexible production concepts that are essential for efficient mass production. Production technologies include additive manufacturing (3D printing) and forming, which have not been applied to passenger aircraft construction before. Qualifying them for this industry with its stringent requirements for quality, reliability and durability is a challenge that the institutes are addressing. The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU is coordinating the project, with a focus on the geometry of the wire windings (coils) in electric drives that enable more efficient operation or higher torque. It is also working on production processes for the combustion chamber housing via bulk-forming and flexible component machining. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS focuses on laser-based additive manufacturing. In Directed Energy Deposition (DED), metal is melted and subsequently welded where needed. This technology allows the printing of components up to 10 m long. Fraunhofer IWS uses laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) as the best method for manufacturing the combustion chamber. In this process, a laser melts metal powder layer by layer onto a component. Cooling holes are inherently spared during printing, saving material. The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM develops an innovative, metallic 3D-printing process established by Israeli company Tritone Technologies. The MoldJet system combines two manufacturing processes that work alternately for layer-wise component manufacturing. In the first layer, the form is produced as a negative to the component geometry from a wax-like polymer using inkjet print heads. This printed layer of form material is then filled with metal powder paste through a slot nozzle and a squeegee. The layer construction creates complex components with undercuts or internal channels without support structures. The Center for Hybrid Electric Systems at Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg is taking on development tasks. “There’s a shift towards electrical systems,” says Ruud Den Boer, project officer at Clean Sky. “If you look at wing ice protection, many aircraft currently use a pneumatic system with a sealed rubber boot that mechanically breaks up the ice, but when you make this wing ice-protection function electrical, the big advantage is that during the flight you can manage your use of the electricity more efficiently and prioritise the energy use between the aircraft’s different on-board systems.” PROPULSION SYSTEMS E-Mobility Engineering | March/April 2024 A new hybrid motor design for electric aircraft (Image courtesy of Rolls-Royce)
The Grid Resting boosts lithium-metal battery cells Researchers have found a key way to extend the life of next-generation lithium-metal batteries, writes Nick Flaherty. Lithium metal cells can double the range of EVs on a single charge and this is a crucial technology for solidstate cells. The researchers at Stanford University found a low-cost approach, which was to simply drain the battery and let it rest for several hours. This restored battery capacity and boosted overall performance. This is a different approach to that taken for lithium-ion batteries, where the cells are charged regularly from 20% to 80% capacity, and allowing them to fully discharge can damage the cells. “An EV with a state-of-the-art lithiummetal battery would lose range at a much faster rate than an EV powered by a lithium-ion battery,” said Prof Yi Cui of the School of Engineering, and professor of energy and engineering at Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. “We were looking for the easiest, cheapest and fastest way to improve lithium-metal cycling life,” said Wenbo Zhang, a Stanford PhD student in materials science and engineering who worked on the study. “We discovered that by resting the battery in the discharged state, lost capacity can be recovered and cycle life increased. These improvements can be realised just by reprogramming the battery management software.” “A car equipped with a lithium metal battery would have twice the range of a lithium-ion vehicle of equal size – 600 miles per charge versus 300 miles,” said researcher Philaphon Sayavong. Continuous charging and discharging causes lithium-metal batteries to degrade quickly, rendering them useless for routine driving. When the battery is discharged, micron-sized bits of lithium metal become isolated and get trapped in the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), a spongy matrix that forms where the anode and electrolyte meet. “The SEI matrix is essentially decomposed electrolyte. It surrounds isolated pieces of lithium metal stripped from the anode and prevents them from participating in any electrochemical reactions. For that reason, we consider isolated lithium dead,” said Zhang. As the SEI matrix begins to dissolve when the battery is idle, the team looked at what would happen if the battery was allowed to rest while discharged. “The first step was to completely discharge the battery, so there is zero current running through it,” said Zhang. “Discharging strips all the metallic lithium from the anode, so all you’re left with are inactive pieces of isolated lithium, surrounded by the SEI matrix.” “We found that if the battery rests in the discharged state for just one hour, some of the SEI matrix surrounding the dead lithium dissolves away,” Sayavong said. “So, when you recharge the battery, the dead lithium will reconnect with the anode, because there is less solid mass getting in the way.” Cui added: “Previously, we thought this energy loss was irreversible, but our study showed we can recover lost capacity simply by resting the discharged battery.” Using time-lapse video microscopy, the researchers visually confirmed the disintegration of residual SEI and subsequent recovery of dead lithium during the resting phase. This has implications for the design of the e-mobility platform. The existing management system can be programmed to discharge an individual module completely, so it has zero capacity left. This does not require expensive, new manufacturing techniques or materials. “You can implement our protocol as fast as it takes you to write the battery management system code,” said Zhang. “We believe that in certain types of lithium-metal batteries, dischargedstate resting alone can increase EV cycle life significantly.” BATTERIES 8 March/April 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering Magnified image of a copper mesh from a lithium metal battery in the discharged state. Tiny pieces of dead lithium of various sizes and shapes are deposited on square openings in the mesh (Image courtesy of Wenbo Zhang/Stanford University)
9 E-Mobility Engineering | March/April 2024 BATTERIES Polymer safety boost for lithium battery cells Researchers in Korea have developed a polymer separator to boost the safety of lithium-ion battery cells, writes Nick Flaherty. Separators composed of polyolefins, a type of polymer, can be employed to keep the anode and cathode apart to prevent an internal short circuit. However, these separators can melt at higher temperatures, and the inadequate absorption of electrolytes can result in short circuits and diminished efficiency. To tackle these issues, several methods have been proposed. One is to apply ceramic coatings on the separators to improve the way they handle pressure and heat. However, this can increase the thickness of the separators, reduce their adhesion and harm battery performance. Another technique is to use polymer coatings in graft polymerization, which involves the attachment of individual units (monomers) to the separators to give them the desired qualities. Research at Incheon National University (INU) in Korea has shown successful graft polymerization on a polypropylene separator (PPS), incorporating a uniform layer of silicon dioxide (SiO2). The study was motivated by the need for high-performance battery materials in EVs to achieve a longer driving range and ease consumer concerns about battery explosions. “Battery explosions are frequently initiated from the melting of a separator. The commercial battery separator is made of polyolefins, a class of polymers that are vulnerable to heat. We aimed to improve the thermal stability of the commercial separators by coating them with thermally robust materials such as SiO2 particles,” said assistant professor Jeongsik Yun at INU. In the research, a PP separator was modified. Initially, it was coated with a layer of polyvinylidene fluoride – a chemical chosen to enhance electrolyte affinity and thermal stability – while introducing grafting reaction sites. Then, the separator underwent grafting with methacrylate molecules, followed by a final coating with SiO2 particles. These modifications made the separator stronger and more resistant to heat, suppressed the growth of lithium dendrites and helped to improve cycling performance. After completing modification, the Li-ion transference rose from 0.36 (PPS) to 0.66 (GDPS-SNPC) as the SiO2 thin coating at the grafted separators exhibits different cell impedances and electrochemical performances. The casting process resulted in better cell performance than the immersion method. LiFePO4 (LFP) half-cell tests with different separators delivered a specific capacity of 160.5 ± 1 mAh g−1 at 0.2 C with excellent reproducibility, but cycling tests at 1.0 C had diverse results. No capacity degradation was seen for separators built with nanoparticles using immersion or casting, while the PPS cell exhibited 88.32% capacity retention. Long-term stability tests showed stable cycling over 1,000 hours at a current density of 1 mA cm−2, while the other cells died before 500 hours. The extremely long lifecycle of the cast cells is attributed to a very smooth Li-plating/stripping process with just 200 nm of SiO2 coating, which does not deteriorate the volumetric energy density of Li-ion batteries. The modifications preserved the energy storage of Li-ion batteries per unit volume and outperformed other coating methods in cell performance. This technique thus shows promise. A separator for lithium-ion batteries (Image courtesy of Incheon University)
10 EVTOL First airfield-to-airfield eVTOL flight with recharging Skyfly and AeroVolt are working on the first electric vehicle take-off and landing (eVTOL) flight in the UK between two airfields with electric charging points, writes Nick Flaherty. AeroVolt is installing a network of aircraft smart chargers around the UK at airports and aerodromes. It currently has five operational sites and aims to have 24 running by the time deliveries of the Skyfly Axe eVTOL begin in 2025, with plans in place for over 60 sites. The two-seat, four-wing Axe eVTOL has a 100-mile range in a fully electric configuration from the 30-50 kW battery pack or 300 miles in a hybrid configuration, and it can be flown with an existing pilot’s licence. Using AeroVolt’s chargers, the Axe eVTOL can charge in about 3.5 hours. The first batch of chargers are rated to 22 kW, and installation of larger 44 kW units will begin in 2024; 120kW models are also planned for the near future. Multiple aircraft – and, in some cases, electric cars – can use any charging station simultaneously. A key factor is that the Axe can operate as a fixed-wing aircraft or a helicopter with eight motors, and it can perform glide landings with all its engines shut down, which other eVTOLs cannot replicate. The four-wing design boosts the lift to enable longer range than ‘rotor-only’ eVTOLs, as well as an extra layer of safety from the glide performance. The Axe is fitted with a ballistic parachute, which is not possible with a helicopter due to the positioning of its rotors. The design does not have rotating motor or wing elements, but instead has fixed-angle rotors, saving on weight, cost, complexity and maintenance. Unlike commercial air taxis, which require ‘vertiport’ infrastructure to be built, the Axe eVTOL can take off and land in a garden, or on any agricultural land where the owner has given permission, without any modifications or expensive infrastructure. This use is legal and well established, with many light aircraft owners operating in this way worldwide from private ‘farm strips’, and it is an opportunity for the 22 kW and 44 kW chargers. “We cannot wait to demonstrate this capability on a real flight route, which will hopefully prove to the non-believers that electric aviation is the future of mobility. Skyfly wants to make the UK a leader in aviation again,” said Michael Thompson, CEO of Skyfly. Skyfly and AeroVolt will conduct test flights as part of the feasibility demonstrations for electric aircraft. The tests will also confirm the compatibility of the Axe with AeroVolt’s charging and monitoring software. Extensive analysis and prototype testing have been carried out, and manufacturing is being readied for series production by the end of 2024, when UK certification is expected. March/April 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering An electric aircraft charger (Image courtesy of AeroVolt)
The Grid 11 E-Mobility Engineering | March/April 2024 Technical consultants Ryan Maughan is an award-winning engineer and business leader with more than 20 years’ experience in the High-Performance, Heavy-Duty and Off-Highway Automotive markets. Prominent in the development of Power Electronics, Electric Motors and Drives (PEMD) for these demanding applications, he has successfully founded, scaled and exited three businesses in the electric vehicle space. He is currently CEO of eTech49 Limited, an advisory business specialising in disruptive hardware technology in PEMD. In addition, he is Chairman of EV North, an industry group representing the booming EV industry in the north of England, a board member of the North East LEP and an adviser to a number of corporations. Danson Joseph has had a varied career in the electrical power industry, having worked in areas ranging from systems engineering of photovoltaic powerplants to developing the battery packs for Jaguar Land Rover’s I-Pace SUV. With a PhD in electrical machines from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, Danson has focused on developing battery systems for automotive use. After completing the I-Pace project he formed Danecca, a battery development company with a focus on prototyping and small-scale production work, as well as testing and verifying cells and packs destined for mass production. Dr Nabeel Shirazee graduated from Leicester University in 1990, where he studied electrical and electronic engineering. An MSc in magnetic engineering followed at Cardiff University, where he continued his studies, earning a PhD and developing a permanent magnetic lifting system that has been patented by the university. His interest in magnetics led to a patented magnetic levitation system that was awarded the World’s No 1 Invention prize at INPEX in the USA. In 1999, he founded Electronica, a magnetics research and design consultancy. Since then, he has been involved in various projects, including the design of an actuator motor for a British aerospace company. He has also licensed the levitation technology in France. Ryan Maughan Danson Joseph Dr Nabeell Shiirazee Researchers in the US have developed a solid-state lithium-air battery cell with a potential energy density of 1000 Wh/kg (writes Nick Flaherty). The capacity is potentially four times that of the current lithium-ion battery technology used in heavy-duty vehicles such as aircraft, trains and submarines. The electrolyte is a mix of polymer and ceramic materials that takes advantage of the ceramics’ high ionic conductivity and the high stability and high interfacial connection of the polymer. The electrolyte is based on Li10GeP2S12 nanoparticles embedded in a polyethylene oxide polymer matrix. The result allows for the critical reversible reaction that enables the battery to function – lithium dioxide formation and decomposition – to occur at high rates at room temperature. It is the first demonstration of this in a lithium-air battery. “We found that solid-state electrolyte contributes around 75% of the total energy density,” said Mohammad Asadi, Assistant Professor of chemical engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology. “That tells us there is a lot of room for improvement, because we believe we can minimise that thickness without compromising performance, which would allow us to achieve a very high energy density.” Prof Asadi said he plans to work with industry partners to optimise the battery’s design and engineer it for manufacturing. The prototype cell is rechargeable for 1000 cycles with a low polarisation gap, and it can operate at high rates. BATTERIES Lithium-air’s quadruple potential March/April 2023 | E-Mobility Engineering Cell-to-pack architecture for fast charging StoreDot has developed a cell-to-pack architecture for its silicon-based fast-charging batteries, writes Nick Flaherty. The I-BEAM XFC is a patented cell design that accelerates the integration of extreme fast charging (XFC) into EVs using StoreDot’s proprietary 100in5 electrode technology. The silicon anodes enable charging for 100 miles of range in just five minutes. With the I-BEAM XFC, cooling is embedded in the cells to provide the thermal management required for fast charging. This prevents localised hotspots and maintains uniform temperatures across the battery pack. “By taking a holistic approach, we have developed a concept that improves packing efficiency and battery lifecycle,” said Dr Doron Myersdorf, CEO of StoreDot. The firm is building a demonstration vehicle with the XFC technology and shipping prismatic B-samples of the cells to car-makers. StoreDot has also shown an early prototype of its 100in4 cell, enabling charging for 100 miles of range in four minutes. The 3Ah 100in4 cells were tested using low applied pressure with minimal expansion. The cells showed 1100 fast-charging cycles with high energy density, and a projected energy density of 340Wh/kg in an EV form factor. The 100in4 technology will scale up from this 3Ah cell to 140Ah for mass production in 2026. A 100in3 cell for charging a range of 100 miles in three minutes is planned for 2028.
The 2nd European Automotive Decarbonization and Sustainability Summit 2024 Tuesday 19 – Wednesday 20 March Frankfurt, Germany www.ecvinternational.com/EuropeanAutomotive Vehicle & Transportation Technology Innovation Meetings Tuesday 26 – Wednesday 27 March Torino, Italy www.italy.vehiclemeetings.com EVS 37 The 37th International Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exhibition Tuesday 23 – Friday 26 April Seoul, Korea www.evs37korea.org Thermal Management Expo Tuesday 30 April – Wednesday 1 May Novi, USA www.thermalmanagementexpo.com Mobility LIVE Middle East Tuesday 30 April – Wednesday 1 May Abu Dhabi, UAE www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/mobility-live-me/index.stm Autonomous e-Mobility (AEMOB) Tuesday 30 April – Thursday 2 May Doha, Qatar www.aemobforum.com European NEV Industry Chain Conference Monday 6 – Tuesday 7 May Munich, Germany www.ltsinnovate.com/European-NEV-Industry-ChainConference E-Tech Europe 2024 Tuesday 7 – Wednesday 8 May Bologna, Italy e-tech.show EV Charging Infrastructure Conference and Exhibition 2024 Monday 13 – Tuesday 14 May Long Beach, USA www.evcharginginfrastructureconference.com CWIEME Berlin Tuesday 14 – Thursday 16 May Berlin, Germany berlin.cwiemeevents.com/home EV Battery Recycle and Reuse Conference and Exhibition 2024 Wednesday 15 – Thursday 16 May Long Beach, USA www.evbatteryreuseandrecycle.com Vehicle Electrification Expo Wednesday 15 – Thursday 16 May Birmingham, UK www.ve-expo.com Battery Cells & Systems Expo Wednesday 15 – Thursday 16 May Birmingham, UK www.batterysystemsexpo.com The Magnetics Show Wednesday 22 – Thursday 23 May Pasadena, USA www.magnetics-show.com The 2nd European EV Thermal Management Summit 2024 Thursday 6 – Friday 7 June Frankfurt, Germany www.ecv-events.com/ads/EuropeanEVThermalManagement hy-fcell Canada 2024 Monday 17 – Wednesday 19 June Vancouver, Canada www.hy-fcell.ca Diary 12 March/April 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering
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14 March/April 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering Honda R&D Europe’s deputy GM talks with Rory Jackson about changing where EVs stand relative to the environment, the grid and the home Recharging communities A drive to understand how complex machines work can spur one towards a life of engineering and research across a diverse field of sciences, as Michael Fischer, deputy GM of Honda R&D Europe, has experienced. Today, he directs a team of predominantly e-mobility engineers at the Honda R&D facility in Offenbach, Germany, but his teenage years were taken up by a love of internal combustion engines, and the sophisticated mechanics by which they transformed chemical energy into shaft horsepower for cars and motorbikes. “Not long before I had to choose a university, and a degree discipline that my career and life path would follow, someone stole my motorbike,” Fischer recounts. “The police found it crashed into a small river, and in a really bad condition; the engine and electrics just didn’t work anymore. But I wanted to keep the bike, so that became my first big engineering project – disassembling the old powertrain, and then specifying and building a new one into the bike.” After half a year or so, the bike was running again, and it had become clear to the young Fischer that mechanical engineering was his calling. He soon enrolled at the Technical University (TU) of Darmstadt, beginning with fundamental mathematics and physics, and soon moving onto applied projects involving thermodynamics, mechanics and other specialist subjects. “A position soon opened at Honda R&D Europe, and because they work from a small but innovative research centre, with a very wide and open remit for developing new technologies, it was exactly what I’d been hoping for,” Fischer recounts. The position in question was as a research engineer for automotive powertrains, including more of the Diesel aftertreatment r&d that had captured Fischer’s interest at TU Darmstadt, but also Honda’s work in battery- and hybrid-electric powertrains, which by 2006 was already well under way. “By then, I had a dream target that I called ‘air in, air out’,” he muses. “I wanted what came out of cars’ tailpipes to have as little harmful emissions as the stuff going in. Literal zero-emission is challenging, but some use the term ‘zeroimpact emissions’, meaning a powertrain that does no harm to the environment.” Honda R&D Europe’s facilities feature extensive smart charging, hydrogen and other infrastructure, all aimed at making EVs more sustainable and useful for consumers (All images courtesy of Honda R&D Europe)
15 Michael Fischer | In conversation E-Mobility Engineering | March/April 2024 This led to a range of research directions, including particle filters for gasoline engines, or new, selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and lean NOx catalyst (LNC) solutions, aimed at NOx aftertreatments for both gasoline and diesel engines. AI for cleaner powertrains Before long, Fischer’s scope expanded to include new forms of software-defined solutions for directly reducing emissions during the combustion process. “For instance, I soon took on some projects evaluating the use of artificial neural networks for engine control, as well as aftertreatment control. Some key objectives were to intelligently estimate NOx emissions being produced by engines, and to control the exhaust gas-recirculation rate and NOx aftertreatment systems to reduce them most effectively,” he recounts. “Those projects have been highly scientific, and that’s why I decided to do my PhD thesis on neural networks for transient NOx estimation, all outside of work hours, but using project results from my research at Honda.” In that PhD, Fischer used a selforganising map – a type of artificial neural network (ANN) trained using unsupervised learning – to produce virtual sensors capable of closely estimating transient NOx emissions, based on sensor signals commonly available in mass-production engines (specifically engine speed, injected fuel mass, Lambda, mass air flow, boost pressure and exhaust-gas temperature). Estimations were performed using local linear functions, and their quality showed they could replace an engine-out NOx sensor, making for potentially significant cost advantages to powertrains incorporating such technology into their control software. “We developed advanced control strategies, and elaborated on how those could be applied in hybrid cars, especially in optimising fuel consumption as engines could be run Honda was already producing HEV cars and powertrains when Fischer started working at Honda R&D Europe in 2006 independently of traction requirements – for me, that was the big leap into e-mobility. Honda already had great experience in hybrid powertrains and then it accelerated for everyone following the ‘Dieselgate’ emissions scandal a couple of years later.” Circularity with three points Through such experiences, Fischer now steers Honda R&D Europe’s Energy & Automobile division with a three-pronged approach to sustainability targets, combining mechanical engineering, materials science and digitalisation. “Digitalisation in particular is a huge buzzword, but we really do try and keep track of how software can help us make mobility a more sustainable world,” he says. “Take, for example, the target of resource circulation. One primarily views this as a material challenge: what kinds of materials are you using in, say, batteries, where are you extracting them from, how can you avoid materials that are environmentally harmful or difficult to harvest? “But there’s also a strong digital component: through software databases, we can track each of those parameters at each stage of a product’s lifecycle. We can track and verify that the companies in charge of material extraction are doing so through sustainable and humane practices.” Additionally, Honda R&D aims to make sure such data cannot be defrauded or cheated, to ensure components that are developed for production are genuinely sustainable from life to end-of-life, and not mere greenwashing. This has spurred considerable focus by Fischer and his team into blockchain. As blockchain-powered ledgers cannot be modified, and are inherently cyber secure, blockchain or similar approaches show immense potential for digital solutions on the traceability of goods and energy. EVs as home devices As EVs become increasingly softwaredefined, there are growing suggestions that cars will one day be used as devices in a similar way to smartphones. Fischer cautions, however, against certain impracticalities of such statements. “An excess of infotainment and personal information devices inside EV cabins can be a huge and unsafe distraction for drivers, certainly as long as we’re the ones doing the driving and not some self-driving autopilot system,” he says. However, there is growing interest in many markets that there should be ways of using EVs and their great energy storing and charging capabilities to advantage in both mobility and home applications, particularly to minimise the amount of energy taken from the grid. To that end, Honda places a lot of focus on energy and charging intelligence, which Fischer points to as being one of the most undervalued and underrepresented topics in discussions about e-mobility engineering.
16 “On the one hand, I think EVs are always going to be more expensive than combustion cars of a similar size. That’s almost guaranteed by function of putting a large battery pack into a car, but smartphones cost far more than house phones, and everyone still owns one, because they enable you to do much more than you could do before,” he notes. “Imagine if EVs could be engineered with capabilities not only for driving but as a huge home energy storage system. They could soon form an integral part of how homeowners track and optimise their day-to-day energy usage. “In the UK, for instance, we already have our e:PROGRESS solution – a time-of-use tariff to help customers recharge their EVs specifically when electricity is cheap. If the EV is then leveraged to charge devices all over their homes, you’ve made the EV a part of their life, 24 hours a day, just like their smartphone,” Fischer adds. Such a concept could be extended to create ‘energy communities’ in the future, and Fischer gives the example of a homeowner with a PV roof. If such an individual is not at home to charge their own EV, and the PV roof stands to generate an electricity surplus that might otherwise go to waste, they could leverage a blockchain solution to engage in energy trading with their neighbour – essentially selling electricity to their neighbour’s EV in a P2P charging arrangement. Charging forwards With the creation of such communities in mind, V2G and bidirectional charging take up much of Honda’s European research within its focus on energy management and intelligent charging. This began in earnest in 2016, when Fischer and his team started installing a fast-charging system at their facility, using the Honda R&D Europe base as a testbed for how the energy flows from EV charger to building could be optimised. These included installing 750 kW (peak) of rooftop solar cells, some Honda-designed bidirectional chargers, and a plethora of voltage and current sensors throughout the building to closely study energy flows. The bidirectional charger is referred to in-house as Honda R&D’s ‘Power Manager’, and is a 10 kW DC system, developed based on ISO 15118-20 (the standard for EV-to-EVSE comms, although it had not been officially published at that time). “We developed our charging manager – a hardware and software solution hidden behind the metre system – which controls the rates at which EVs charge, based on forecasts of weather and electricity consumption, as well as real-time measurements of energy flows across our facility. Key factors in its intelligence are parameters entered into the chargers by its users, including our own researchers, such as their target time for when they will leave, and how much SoC [state of charge] they want to have by that time,” Fischer says. “The charging manager computer optimises all the EVs’ chargings, such that everyone gets their desired SoC on time, and prioritises the rooftop PV cells over the grid as the preferred energy source, while also minimising peak load in the system. Widespread deployments of such smart charging infrastructure will be critical in the future; national grids cannot presently withstand every road user charging an EV at once.” Most work on developing the charging manager was software-related, falling into two categories: one was writing the algorithms necessary for intelligent control of charging loads and power draws; the other was optimising the communications links throughout the facility, between chargers, vehicles and other devices. “The problem with ISO 15118-20 and other charging comms standards today is that their interpretation is often left up to individual engineers. Hence, industry often holds ‘plugfests’, which are great opportunities for charger manufacturers and automotive engineers to test and improve their systems’ interoperability, and to improve how standards are written to better guide network and comms engineers towards a clearly defined way of writing charging comms,” Fischer notes. Through this EV charging system, Honda R&D Europe has qualified with its Honda e-fleet and bi-directional chargers to operate the frequency control reserve, a rapid and automatic In conversation | Michael Fischer March/April 2024 | E-Mobility Engineering Through technology such as bidirectional charging, V2G and blockchain, future EVs (such as Honda’s new e/NY1) could enable smart home energy allocation or P2P energy trading
17 response mechanism used by transmission-system operators to stabilise frequencies against sudden changes in electricity supply or demand, principally to keep grids stable. Stress and power density However, optimisation of EV charging raises questions over the increased degradation and stress that batteries suffer from repeated charging and discharging. “There is no ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to this question; it only depends on what you’re doing with the battery,” says Fischer. “Obviously, if you run it from 0% to 100% SoC and back over and over again each day, you’ll induce lithium dendrite build-ups and reduce your pack’s lifespan quite a bit.” “With our frequency control reserve, we can control for very small SoC swings, even keeping packs in the sweet spot of 40-60%, which can have a positive effect on battery lifespans. But then most of your electronic components could be working 24/7 and suffering lifespan drops of their own because you’re managing the SoC too persistently. We’re accounting for that when researching new power electronics, ECUs and so on.” For Fischer, the path forward certainly includes shifting r&d from focusing only on battery energy density and rerouting it towards power density, such that gradual improvements in charging infrastructure will make recharging passenger EVs as simple and timeefficient as refilling at petrol stations. Further enablers for a smarter energy future will include the ability to make batteries from sustainable materials, improved thermal management strategies for mitigating cell temperature increases during charging, and advancements in battery engineering. Here, Fischer cites cell-to-pack architectures as an efficient means of maximising energy density, but he cautions that recycling such packs could be extremely difficult without a straightforward disassembly method. Zero-impact, infinite possibility Fischer believes big challenges remain before battery recycling becomes a reality. Material selection is among the largest and makes for a significant source of trade-off. The more that rare materials such as nickel or manganese are used in cells, the more of a business case there is to recover and reuse such materials. But their rare nature also drives the creation of batteries from more abundant, low-value materials, for which recycling and circularity would be far less easy to achieve via a profit motive. “Batteries with only cheap and abundant materials – for example, sodium-based ones – could be a great path towards more sustainable and affordable packs one day, but regulations would be needed to make recycling of them mandatory and not lead to scrap hills of depleted packs,” he says. Honda R&D Europe has recently extended its energy testbed with a 225 kW electrolyser and extensive hydrogen-storage infrastructure. “We think hydrogen will play a huge role in future energy and mobility, even if hydrogen isn’t always necessary for passenger cars as batteries can satisfy most of their range requirements. There are so many vehicles and industries where hydrogen is important for decarbonisation that we shouldn’t view electric and hydrogen systems as separate. It is more correct to take a holistic view, optimising total energy efficiency and storage with whatever is the smartest solution,” Fischer says. “For instance, on really sunny days, our PV cells will generate 750 kW, and the energy from that can’t all be stored in batteries alone. It makes much more sense to store it as hydrogen, which can be used to refuel FCEVs [fuel-cell EVs], H2 engine-powered vehicles or combined heat-and-power systems. And while those might be three different ways of applying hydrogen, again, we don’t view them too separately here at Honda when it comes to our research. “There’s a reason we seat our virtualsimulation engineers next to our benchtesting engineers. Each can directly learn ways to improve their own software and tools from the other so long as they communicate well – much as is the case with our different hydrogen research teams, and of both hydrogen and battery EV developers.” E-Mobility Engineering | March/April 2024 Michael Fischer Michael Fischer was born and raised near Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. After graduating secondary school in 1999, he performed one year of civil service before beginning a degree programme at the Technical University of Darmstadt in 2000. He achieved a master’s diploma in engineering in 2006, and wrote his thesis (as part of a collaboration between Honda and TU Darmstadt) on how advanced NOx aftertreatment techniques could be applied to diesel passenger cars to effectively reduce harmful emissions. That year, Fischer started working as a project leader (powertrain) at Honda R&D Europe, becoming section leader for powertrain technology in 2011, and achieving his doctorate in 2013. Over the subsequent 10 years, he advanced through a number of managing roles across automotive engineering, materials research and digital solutions, directing growing teams of specialist researchers at the Honda R&D Europe facility in Hesse. In April 2021, Fischer became deputy general manager for Honda R&D Europe’s Energy & Automobile division, a position he continues to hold to this day.
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