{"id":5092,"date":"2012-01-09T11:53:37","date_gmt":"2012-01-09T18:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=5092"},"modified":"2012-01-09T11:53:37","modified_gmt":"2012-01-09T18:53:37","slug":"better-batteries-nickel-cobalt-manganese-from-ricardo-and-axeon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/better-batteries-nickel-cobalt-manganese-from-ricardo-and-axeon\/","title":{"rendered":"Better Batteries: Nickel Cobalt Manganese from Ricardo and Axeon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ricardo and Allied Vehicles<\/a>, a British engineering firm known for its work with racing vehicles and KERS technology, has announced an alliance with European battery manufacturer Axeon <\/a>to produce a Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) battery which would reputedly provide 35-percent greater range to electric vehicles than \u201cexisting technologies at the same weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new battery would require \u201c50 percent less volume and 30 percent less mass when compared to Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry at cell level,\u201d according to the Richardo fourth quarter, 2011 newsletter.<\/p>\n

Green Car Congress<\/em> reports<\/a>, \u201cElectrochemically, the performance is superior to Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4<\/sub>) and Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2<\/sub>) in terms of capacity and therefore energy density. In\u00a0 terms of rate capability and therefore power density the electrochemical performance is better than LiCoO2 but not as high as LiFePO4, Axeon says.\u201d\u00a0 The chemistry compromise allows lower costs\u00a0for these batteries.<\/p>\n

With a Ricard-designed battery management system (BMS) the NCM pouch cells, new technology for EVs, can be blocked together into modular battery packs with the energy density of the new technology.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Axeon\/Ricardo NCM battery module<\/p><\/div>\n

Ricardo chief technology and innovation officer, Professor Neville Jackson, has greater goals for the new batteries.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThis project has allowed us to supply and develop our expertise in advanced battery management. \u00a0\u00a0The new battery will improve the potential for more widespread vehicle electrification, a process that has the potential to significantly reduce global dependence on fossil fuels and minimize carbon dioxide emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ricardo has used an \u201cadvanced demonstrator\u201d vehicle to test the robustness and functionality of its BMS and \u201cthermal management options\u201d and overall vehicle range with the new battery modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In 2009, the Technology Strategy Board, the UK’s national\u00a0innovation agency,\u00a0awarded more than \u00a3680,000 (US$1 million) of funding to the consortium led by Axeon\u2014bringing the total project funding to more than \u00a31.3 million (US$2 million)\u2014with the aim of developing an innovative high energy density battery system for an electric vehicle.\u00a0 These tests will enable \u201cAxeon to support rapid prototyping into a range of other vehicle types with significantly reduced development lead times.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an added benefit, Ricardo\u2019s BMS can work with a wide variety of cell chemistries, actively balances cells, and \u201cdelivers diagnostic and prognostic information to the vehicle control system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two companies are collaborating on commercializing their new technologies.<\/p>\n