ALBATROSS

The project:

ALBATROSS addresses the needs of European Electric and Hybrid-Electric passenger vehicle market by overcoming driver concerns relating to battery range and anxiety, cost, long-term reliability and excessive charging times. ALBATROSS will develop an integrated approach based on smart batteries combined with lightweight designs. Using innovative cooling technologies, we will achieve pack temperature range 5-40°C (30-40°C under ultra-fast charging), with <3°C variation between battery cells and optimal operating temperature 20-23°C. The light weighting solutions, based on modular multi-material systems for battery modules and trays, will be fabricated and joined using cutting edge, fast and cost-effective processes, with disassembly, recycling and reuse designed in as a part of an eco-design approach. The modular approach provides solutions for BEVs and PHEVs. The scalability to delivery vans and heavy-duty vehicles will be assessed. Using a BMW i3 passenger vehicle to base the developments on, ALBATROSS will achieve a Peak Energy Density >200Wh/kg, increase driving range to 480km and reduce charging times by 25%. Advanced sensing and control, as a part of a flexible advanced Battery Management System, will be utilised on-vehicle and using the cloud to conduct remote maintenance and troubleshooting ensuring safety even at these high energy densities. Using advanced analytics will enable the State of Health and State of Safety to be continuously and accurately measured. The system will be validated on-vehicle under real world, extreme environmental conditions.

ALBATROSS represents a pan-European EU consortium of world leading organisations that are looking to commercialise these technologies of European origin. The coordinator (Yesilova) has a global presence in the automotive market and the consortium is strengthened by organisations that are part of the global Fiat-Chrysler, Ford and Mercedes-Benz groups as well as European SMEs with world leading technologies.

CIDETEC’S role in the project:

CIDETEC Energy Storage will be focused on the testing activity (cycling) of the achieved battery packs. Tests at different temperatures and charging conditions will be performed in agreement with the rest of partners. CIDETEC Energy Storage will also collaborate in the module concept design and innovative battery thermal management based on the large experience in module and battery pack development. The aim is to support to the electro, thermal and mechanical analysis at module and pack level.