Focus on…

Focus on...

Battery safety

Peter Donaldson samples the many layers of defence involved in ensuring battery safety Lithium-ion batteries present a fundamental engineering trade-off. The technology offers the high energy density that makes e-mobility possible, yet it contains inherent chemical instability – to varying degrees depending on chemistry – that, when triggered, can unleash a self-sustaining cascade of heat, gas and fire.

Focus on...

Battery manufacturing

Battery manufacturing is one of the most complex industrial challenges of the e-mobility era. The gap between laboratory perfection and mass-production reality is where ambitious projects succeed or fail. This article brings together a number of expert voices from across the battery manufacturing value chain: welding, dry coating chemistry, coating and filling, factory automation, cell assembly, digital automation, laser optics, digital twins and data and also X-ray inspection.

Focus on...

Production tests

Nick Flaherty examines how reliable, functional testing is crucial for manufacturers aiming to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving EV market The latest report from the International Energy Agency forecasts that electric car sales will exceed 20 million units in 2025, representing over 25% of global car sales. The report also states that by 2030, EVs are expected to account for more than 40% of all car sales globally.

Focus on...

Battery pack adhesives

Battery pack adhesives must do much more than simply hold things together. Peter Donaldson reports.

Focus on...

Wide bandgap materials

The shift to wide bandgap materials isn’t just an incremental upgrade, it is the fundamental enabler for the next generation of high-performance, long-range EVs, reports Nick Flaherty Wide bandgap (WBG) materials – primarily silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), but also gallium oxide (Ga2O3 or GaO) – are defined by their electronic bandgap energy, which is significantly higher than that of traditional silicon at 1.1 eV. Specifically, SiC and GaN possess bandgaps of approximately 3.2 and 3.4 eV, respectively, with GaO at 4.5–4.9 eV.

Focus on...

Battery electrode binders

Binders in EV batteries do far more than simply act as a glue holding the electrodes together, as revealed by Peter Donaldson.

Focus on...

Motor testing

Repeated testing of electric motors brings many benefits. Nick Flaherty examines some of the procedures in common use. Electric motor tests conducted throughout the stages of an electric motor’s life cycle provide essential information about the motor’s overall health and provide engineers with a range of benefits.

Focus on...

Battery thermal barriers

New materials from carbon nanotubes to intumescent polymers are opening up innovative ways of providing thermal management in e-mobility battery packs, as Nick Flaherty finds out. From mica sheets to thermal gap fillers and aerogels, there are now more options than ever for managing heat flow through a battery pack and powertrain, and for mitigating the effects of thermal runaway.

Focus on...

Battery separator materials

Peter Donaldson examines the essential properties of battery separator materials. Every lithium-ion cell has a separator between the electrodes, an often overlooked but fundamental component with three key functions.

Focus on...

Battery cooling

As batteries pack more energy into a given mass and volume while charging speeds increase, engineers face growing challenges in managing heat dissipation efficiently and safely. In wrestling with this problem, they are are reshaping thermal management