E-Mobility Engineering 017 l ECE Doosan electric excavators dossier l In Conversation: Matt Faulks l Battery testing focus l Battery Show North America 2022 report l Ariel Hipercar digest l Cathode materials insight l Thermal management focus

TheGrid P roventia has launched a modular rugged battery pack for off-road construction equipment (writes Nick Flaherty). The ePRO500+ platform uses lithium titanate oxide (LTO) cells from Toshiba with different versions for high power at 20 Ah or high energy delivery at 26 Ah, both with a nominal voltage from 48 to 800 V. The high-power, 552 V version delivers a pulse of 440 kW over 10 seconds and continuous power of 110 kW, while the high-energy pack has a pulse power of 280 kW and 143 kW over 10 seconds and continuous power of 72 kW. LTO is used as it is inherently safer, as there is no thermal runaway failure mode that can lead to short-circuits and fires. The high-power packs are also suitable for safe fast charging, which is key for construction equipment that needs to be working for long periods of time. N I has launched a battery cycler that supports testing packs with a power of up to 150 kW (writes Nick Flaherty). The High Power System (HPS) 17000, NI’s highest voltage cycler at 1500 V, is modular to support existing EV architectures while leaving room for future higher-voltage variants. It is used to analyse battery function through charge/discharge cycles by measuring the cells’ response over time. A number of parameters can be measured by NI’s software, including capacity, efficiency of the battery and self-discharge. Deterministic time-sensitive networking allows multiple HPS-17000 units to synchronise with a resolution of 1 µs, so cyclers positioned tens of metres apart can reliably operate in parallel. This gives engineers more freedom to reconfigure There is a standard 1 kWh base module that is then used to build custom battery packs, combining high energy or high power depending on an OEM’s requirement. “We carry out cell-level measurements and use those to create cell-level simulation models that we build into a module model,” said Jari Granath, Proventia’s product manager for the their test set-ups and move equipment around the lab to maximise asset usage and optimise their testing. packs. “The system model is a repetition of the module models. We start with a simulation model but we have to support that with the real-world testing to validate the models, and we do that in-house.” At the moment, the packs are typically up to 15 kW but there is a move to a higher capacity design. “On the full EVs side we are starting to see potential for several hundred kWh,” Granath said. This synchronisation also extends to high-accuracy current and voltage sensor units so that battery design and test engineers can readily correlate cycler actions with external measurements at microsecond-level resolution, helping them set up, execute and report on tests faster. The system has swappable power bricks to reduce downtime, as the system can run safely even if one brick needs repair. It can also be used for applications other than battery cycling, such as inverter testing or dynamometer applications by using the standardised power break-out sections in the system’s cabinet. That allows the cabinet to also be used by local service technicians to test an EV should a malfunction occur. Proventia’s lithium titanate oxide packs have nominal voltages of 48-800 V NI’s cycler supports existing EV architectures but will also accommodate future variants Rugged packs fromstandardmodule High-powermodular EV cell cycler OFF ROAD BATTERIES BATTERY CHARGING/RECHARGING 8 January/February 2023 | E-Mobility Engineering