Battery

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Protecting electric ships with rapid DC switching

Potentially critical faults in the high-power DC powertrains increasingly found in ships, particularly ferries, must be isolated as quickly as possible to minimise damage and allow the rest of the system to continue operating as normal (writes Peter Donaldson). Key to this is the application of solid-state power electronics in the form of switches based […]

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Battery Monitoring

Sophisticated technologies are becoming necessary for faster monitoring of cell behaviour. Nick Flaherty reports Monitoring the performance of battery cells in a pack is pushing the limits of technology in many ways.

Grid

SABIC cube cells pack more energy

Engineers at materials firm SABIC have patented a design for a battery pack using cuboidal cells (writes Nick Flaherty). The cells are inserted into a structural backbone made from a thermoplastic, and could increase battery pack energy density by 20% or more, with 10% more cells compared to a pack using cylindrical cells , along with […]

New Products

VARTA and Breathe Battery Technologies combine to cut VARTA’s Easy Blade battery charging time

Battery manufacturer VARTA has partnered with Breathe Battery Technologies (BBT), which develops battery enhancement software, to cut the charging time of VARTA’s Easy Blade batteries and increase the amount of energy that can be stored in the cells. BBT’s Breathe Charge charging software has been applied to the lithium-ion based VARTA Easy Blade 48 V […]

PS

Battery swapping, and the alternatives

Whether you drive a single battery EV or operate a fleet of them, ensuring there is enough energy in the battery to complete the job in hand is bound to be a major

New Products

CATL launches cell-to-pack battery and claims highest integration level so far

CATL has announced Qilin, the third generation of its cell-to-pack technology dubbed CTP 3.0. The company says it gives a volume utilisation efficiency of 72% and an energy density of up to 255 Wh/kg, to deliver a range of more than 1000 km. In the Qilin, which is named after a legendary creature in Chinese […]

Digest

Green-G ecarry

Rory Jackson investigates this custom-built EV for collecting refuse in the narrow streets of older town and cities The dangers of excess CO2, NOX and other greenhouse gases from refuse and freight trucks in

Deep Insight

Lithium-sulphur batteries

Lithium-sulphur batteries suffer from short lifetimes from the polysulphide shuttle effect. Nick Flaherty reports on attempts to reduce this The most significant advantage that lithium-sulphur (LiS)

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Cell-to-pack batteries

Most EV battery packs are built from groups of cells housed in modules interconnected within a case that provides structural support, thermal management, environmental protection and connectivity with the rest

New Products

BYD expands range of forklifts

BYD has unveiled additions to its range of forklifts, including the heavy-duty ECB70/80, its highest-capacity counterbalance forklift to date. It can operate for up to 9 hours on one charge, and with an hour of charging, its range can be extended by a further 2-3 hours Other new products are the ECB20S, a three-wheel counterbalance […]