Dry coating of lithium-ion batteries has the potential to revolutionize battery production through a reduced solvent, energy, and footprint demand. However, dry coated electrodes suffer from poor adhesion between the dry film and current collector that leads to the demand of a pre-coating. In this webinar, we will discuss how carbon coatings of current collectors can enable dry battery manufacturing and improve battery cell performance.

Key takeaways:

• Operating principles of conductive coatings in battery cells
• The essential role of conductive coatings in dry-coated batteries
• Insights into slurry-based vs dry-coated electrodes

This webinar will be hosted by CHARGED on Wednesday, May 29th, at 11 am US EST.

Register now, it’s free!

 

Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine

German chemical manufacturer BASF offers a portfolio of engineering plastics that can be used in co-creation partnerships with the automotive industry to develop next-generation EV motors.

• BASF’s portfolio of thermoplastics offers high temperature and media resistance, mechanical strength, exact electric compatibility, high purity and tailored flame retardance. The range includes:
• Ultramid (PA: polyamide)
• Ultradur (PBT: polybuthylene-terephthalate)
• Ultrason (PESU/PSU/PPSU: polyarylethersulfones
• Ultramid Advanced (PPA: polyphthalamide)

The compounds are available in different colors, from colorless to orange and laser-markable black, and feature short-glass, long-glass or mineral fiber reinforcement as well as various heat stabilizers.

The thermoplastics for EV motor parts can be easily processed in injection molding so that no post-processing is needed. They are weldable and offer flexible part design for different requirements, including high-voltage insulation, thermal management, hydrolysis and chemical resistance and high mechanical load. They can contribute to weight reduction as well as noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) reduction.

The plastics can be used in the motor and inverter housings, stator/rotor, busbars, IGBTs, high-voltage connectors, slot liners, bearing cages, magnetic encapsulation, engine mounts and other components.

Source: BASF

Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine

Mercedes-Benz has announced that its Wallbox smart charger for overnight charging at home is now widely available across the US. 

The unit delivers up to 11.5 kW when operated at 48 amps on a 240-volt circuit. It provides the typical range of smart-charging features through a phone app.

The Wallbox is made by Amsterdam-based EVSE company EVBox. It is offered on a complimentary basis to customers who purchased a Mercedes-Benz MY23 EQE or EQS in the first quarter of this year.

“Mercedes-Benz is committed to providing our customers with a variety of convenient, simple and fast charging options, whether at home or on the road,” said Markus Rossmann, Senior Manager of Charging Solutions at Mercedes-Benz USA.

Source: Mercedes-Benz

Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine

US-based Sepion Technologies, which develops nanoengineered separator coatings and liquid electrolytes for EV batteries, has received UN/DOT 38.3 safety certification for its lithium-metal pouch cells.

UN/DOT 38.3 is an essential certification required for manufacturers and suppliers involved in transporting and distributing lithium batteries by air, sea and land to ensure the safety of passengers, crew and cargo. Having received the certification, Sepion can commence shipping lithium-metal cell samples to its customers worldwide.

Sepion has demonstrated compliance with environmental, mechanical and electrical requirements, including altitude simulation, thermal cycling under extreme temperatures, vibration tests and shock resistance assessments, external short circuit simulations, impact simulations and forced discharge evaluations.

Sepion’s lithium-battery technology comprises nanoporous separator coatings and non-flammable liquid electrolytes designed to address the safety challenges posed by traditional lithium-ion batteries while offering enhanced energy density and faster charging at a competitive cost, according to the company.

“We aim to unlock greater design optionality for EV manufacturers to deliver safe and sustainable vehicles that meet the diverse needs of the next wave of EV customers. We do this by providing separators and electrolytes for commercial and next-gen active materials at a competitive cost,” said Peter Frischmann, Sepion’s CEO.

Source: Sepion Technologies

Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine

Lyten, a supermaterials application company, reports that its automated battery production line consistently exceeds 90% yield, confirming the viability of manufacturing its lithium-sulfur battery using a sulfur cathode and lithium metal anode.

Converting lithium-ion equipment to produce lithium-sulfur batteries in Lyten’s pilot facility required six weeks. Lyten’s lithium-sulfur battery chemistry utilizes no N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) in the cathode manufacturing process. The battery contains no nickel, cobalt, manganese, or graphite in the cathode and anode, enabling an entirely locally sourced and manufactured battery.

Lyten’s lithium-sulfur batteries can be produced in standard cylindrical and pouch formats, scaled to automated manufacturing, and use the same equipment and processes as legacy lithium-ion batteries, reducing the risk of producing batteries with higher performance and lower costs than lithium-ion and future solid-state batteries, the company said.

Lyten expects to achieve over 98% yields at scale and will begin delivering commercial lithium-sulfur cells for non-EV customers in aerospace and government applications in 2024 from its San Jose pilot production facility. The company is executing engineering and design, procuring equipment, and evaluating locations to rapidly scale up its manufacturing capacity to meet growing interest from EV, trucking, space, aerospace, and government customers.

“To achieve mass market adoption, lithium-sulfur must be able to be manufactured at enormous scale and at a price immediately on par or better than today’s already scaled-up lithium-ion batteries,” said Celina Mikolajczak, Chief Battery Technology Officer at Lyten. “The complete elimination of NMP and its ability to tolerate metallic contamination and defects creates a cell that is highly manufacturable.”

Source: Lyten

Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine

School transportation provider First Student, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, has surpassed three million miles driven by its electric school buses.

The company has deployed more than 330 electric buses to North American school districts and approved 1,108 more for order. It has a goal of transitioning 30,000 diesel school buses to electric by 2035.

First Student was among the top recipients of funds from the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program, which provides $5 billion over the years 2022 to 2026. First Student assists school districts in applying for the funding and has secured close to $220 million so far. In January, the EPA awarded First Student $140 million—the most it has awarded to any contractor—to deploy more than 370 electric school buses in US school districts.

Source: First Student

Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine

The directors of Australian fast charger manufacturer Tritium have declared the company as well as three of its Australian subsidiaries—Tritium, Tritium Holdings and Tritium Nominee—insolvent and called in voluntary administration, according to a statement filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“The Company’s other subsidiaries will continue to operate outside the voluntary administration,” the SEC filing stated.

The company stated on April 11 that it had received a warning from the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York where its shares were listed that it no longer met the requirements to retain its listing.

Lenders have appointed a receiver to take control of the company’s assets and seek buyers.

Tritium was one of the early leaders in the EV charging infrastructure rollout, reaching a valuation of $2 billion with its Nasdaq listing in 2022. But there were signs of trouble as it closed its Brisbane factory and moved its production to its US base in Tennessee last year. The company said in November that it had a fleet of more than 14,500 chargers across 47 countries.

Source: Tritium

Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine

Toray Industries, a Japanese performance chemical manufacturer, has developed an ion-conductive polymer membrane that it says delivers 10 times the ion conductivity of its predecessors.

The new polymer membranes offer ion conductivity through hopping conduction. This mechanism enables lithium ions to traverse between interacting sites within polymer membranes, jumping across sites. The membranes remain non-porous. Toray estimates that enhancing the hopping site structure and designing a new polymer with more hopping sites has delivered an ionic conductivity in the 10^-⁴ S/cm range for a hopping-conductive polymer film. It confirmed that the polymer film functions effectively as a protective film on lithium metal surfaces to extend the service lives of batteries using lithium metal lithium anodes.

Joint research with Professor Nobuyuki Imanishi of the Graduate School of Engineering at Mie University verified the achievement of 100 charge-discharge cycles for the first time in a dual-component, lithium-air battery employing this polymer membrane as a separator.

“This new offering could accelerate the deployment of solid-state batteries, air batteries, and other lithium metal batteries, to expand the cruising ranges of EVs, industrial drones, urban air mobility systems and other transportation modes,” the company said.

Source: Toray

Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine

Panasonic Energy has signed a binding term sheet and initiated discussions with New Delhi-headquartered IndianOil to potentially form a joint venture to manufacture cylindrical lithium-ion batteries in India. 

Driven by anticipated expansion of the country’s battery demand, the two companies will conduct a feasibility study to finalize details of their collaboration by summer.

The country’s largest state-owned oil production company, IndianOil has in recent years been developing clean energy sources, including solar power, biofuels and hydrogen.

Through its partnership with IndianOil, Panasonic Energy intends to contribute to the establishment of a complete supply chain ecosystem in India and to the growth of its lithium-ion battery industry by enhancing cell technology and creating domestic demand for raw materials and new entrants.

Source: Panasonic Energy

Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine

US-based EO Charging, which provides EV infrastructure and services for van, truck and bus fleets, has launched its Genius Fleet hardware and software bundle to simplify depot electrification for commercial vans, trucks, and school bus fleets.

Genius Fleet provides fully managed charging capabilities by combining the EO Cloud charge management platform, 24/7/365 monitoring and remote fix solutions, ongoing operations and maintenance (O&M) support and an EO Genius Level 3 19.2 kW commercial grade charging station.

EO handles all charger commissioning onto EO Cloud, monitors the chargers to address any issues before they affect business operations and offers optional on-site services to optimize the charger.

“The benefits of transitioning to an electric fleet are not without cost and project management burdens for many school bus and commercial fleets,” said John Walsh, President of EO Charging, Americas. “EO’s new Genius Fleet solution aims to remove these barriers, letting the customer focus on their core competency while enabling EO to provide lifecycle electrification services that meet their unique needs.”

Source: EO Charging

Source: Electric Vehicles Magazine