{"id":6563,"date":"2020-07-14T13:27:32","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T11:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=6563"},"modified":"2020-07-14T13:27:32","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T11:27:32","slug":"battery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2020\/07\/14\/battery\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering to beat the battery boundaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Extreme E is a radical new race series for all-electric SUVs for which Williams Advanced Technology is designer and supplier of battery technology. (Extreme E\/WAE)<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big step from motor racing technology, hypercars and jet fighters to a baby\u2019s mobile incubator able to withstand a 20g-impact, \u00a0but that\u2019s the usual business \u00a0at Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE). Under\u00a0CEO Craig Wilson, the company \u2013 technologically nimble and innovative \u2013 is playing key roles in projects that set new, broader engineering parameters rather than being guided by them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what we do: meet and beat the challenges,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cWe are always learning and cross-linking every program in which we are involved, to deliver the correct technical direction, often in partnerships but always with novel, individual solutions.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of those partnerships, led by the U.K.\u2019s Triumph Motorcycles, sees WAE \u00a0along with Integral Powertrain and WMG at University of Warwick, \u00a0collaborating on a high-performance electric motorcycle that will \u201cgenerate technological innovation for future motorcycles,\u201d said Wilson in an exclusive interview with SAE International<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Designated TE-1, the electric motorbike project is supported by the U.K. government via its Innovate research and innovation organization. \u00a0It is now halfway through its two-year development schedule. Led by Triumph, which is responsible for integration of all technology, it is a relatively hush-hush project in which WAE has responsibility for lightweight battery design and pack integration. \u00a0Integral Powertrain\u2019s e-Drive division is leading development of bespoke, power-dense electric motors and a silicon carbide inverter, merging both into a single motor housing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Initially, WMG\u2019s role was to identify partners and assist with bid writing, said Professor of Advanced Propulsion Systems David Greenwood: \u201cNow we continue to support Triumph with project management and our technical work is focused around modeling, control and testing of the electric powertrain \u2013 to deliver an exceptional rider experience with maximized powertrain efficiency. We are also studying the wider implications associated with electric motorcycles, including manufacturing requirements, market development, regulations and charging.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At Triumph, CEO Nick Bloor said the TE-1 project, part of its electric motorcycle strategy, is \u201cdriven by customers\u201d who want to \u201creduce their environmental impact, combined with the desire for more economical transportation and changing legislation.\u201d There\u2019s also a focus on \u00a0handling, performance and usability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

High power, energy-dense<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Reducing battery size and weight are vital targets for TE-1\u2019s success. Said Wilson: \u201cCentral to achieving this is to combine the necessary percentage of high-power cells with energy-dense cells. Increasingly, cells are improving in terms of their specific performance. \u00a0But it is still the case that primarily we are looking for the tradeoff between energy density and power density.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 in-house Multi-Chem adaptive technology has enabled reduced mass and volume yet increased target power density within motorsport. As its foundation battery supplier, WAE has played a pivotal role within Formula E. It also developed the battery pack for next year\u2019s radical Extreme E motorsport.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Multi-Chem technology uses a bi-directional DC\/DC converter to enable use of both high-energy and high-power-density battery cells in a single pack. \u00a0The result is a claimed increase in useable energy density of up to 70% compared with conventional battery systems. Multi-Chem enables semi-independent sizing of energy and power cells via scalable blocks, with a compact thermal-management system delivering required cooling within tight packaging. Wilson stated that WAE has created a demonstrator battery system utilizing Multi-Chem technology to demonstrate its significant performance benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA high-power battery system, with a peak power of 550 kW (20-second pulse), providing a total stored energy of 60 kWh, has a core battery mass of 345 kg (761 lb),\u201d he said. \u201cSafety is a vital aspect of high-power automotive battery application and WAE uses its 223 composite manufacturing process for encasement to meet that need.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wilson, a former managing director of TWR Group, agreed that \u00a0long-anticipated \u201cbattery breakthroughs\u201d have been a long time coming, but has confidence that change really is afoot. \u201cNot in the current form of chemistries,\u201d he noted, \u201cbut it will do when we continue to get further into new materials through the use of semi-solid and solid-state applications. Commercially, they remain some way off.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Already from its \u00a0Formula E experience, \u00a0Williams has \u00a0\u00a0realized a 30-40% mass saving, the bulk of that coming from the cells themselves, with improved performance in the past five years regarding total battery performance, Wilson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Electrifying motorcycles, he added, \u00a0brings an additional challenge: the loss of a traditional aural signature. \u201cSome companies have investigated fake sound, but we decided not to on this project. TE-1 is a high-, not an extreme-performance, motorcycle.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thermal management<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Tackling cost is another ongoing focus of Wilson\u2019s team. \u201cFrom a battery financial viewpoint, we are looking at the possibility of making some components redundant without losing performance,\u201d \u00a0he said. \u201cFive years ago, almost every battery program we were involved in would have a degree of thermal application, with cooling needing a radiator, hoses, glycol. Now, 50 percent of our programs have supplementary thermal management, novel air cooling and the use of materials with thermal-rejection characteristics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 engineers benefit from learnings derived from the cross-linking of many programs. For example, Formula E technology development is very significant at present, Wilson noted, in terms of its relevance for OEMs doing mainstream engineering.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With regard to the Triumph TE-1 project, Wilson sees its WAE-developed battery technology as having applications other than motorcycles: \u201cOne of the great strengths of our company is technology integration capability across many disciplines; F1 to fighter jets and as part of an aerospace consortium. We recently re-engineered ventilators for scalable production to support COVID-19 treatment. As a company we\u2019re used to pushing things to the limit of complex packaging to produce whole products.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The boundary-pushing includes WAE\u2019s extraordinary project to provide a total 2 mW of battery power for the 2000-ps (1,973-hp) Lotus Evija all-wheel-drive hypercar. A piece of extreme electric exoticism, its thermal demands with ultra-tight battery packaging and no room for compromises.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.sae.org<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

CUT COTS OF THE FLEET WITH OUR AUDIT PROGRAM<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\n

FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Extreme E is a radical new race series for all-electric SUVs for which Williams Advanced Technology is designer and supplier of battery technology. (Extreme E\/WAE) It\u2019s a big step from motor racing technology, hypercars and jet fighters to a baby\u2019s mobile incubator able to withstand a 20g-impact, \u00a0but that\u2019s the usual business \u00a0at Williams Advanced…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[218],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6565,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6563\/revisions\/6565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}