A new prototype “intelligent battery cell” has been developed by researchers at Fraunhofer IPA in Stuttgart, which could lead to a considerable reduction in the cost of an electric vehicle battery pack. According to the team, the new prototype could also lead to battery packs with greater capacity and therefore longer range EVs. The new prototype battery cells feature built-in “micro-controllers” that record various physical parameters, such as temperature and charge status, and use this information to “communicate” with the other cells, allowing manufacturing options that didn’t previously exist. The Group Manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, Dr Kai Pfeiffer, commented: “Depending on the cell quality, we can therefore increase the range by at least four percent. Over time, this effect is amplified: in the case of an old battery, and if the empty cells are replaced, it is conceivable that a range up to ten percent higher can be achieved.”
A new prototype “intelligent battery cell” has been developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, which could lead to a considerable reduction in the cost of an electric vehicle battery pack. According to the team, the new prototype could also lead to battery packs with greater capacity and therefore longer range EVs. The new prototype battery cells feature built-in “micro-controllers” that record various physical parameters, such as temperature and charge status, and use this information to “communicate” with the other cells, allowing manufacturing options that didn’t previously exist. The Group Manager at Fraunhofer IPA, Dr Kai Pfeiffer, commented: “Depending on the cell quality, we can therefore increase the range by at least four percent. Over time, this effect is amplified: in the case of an old battery, and if the empty cells are replaced, it is conceivable that a range up to ten percent higher can be achieved.”