A supply of fossil fuel-free steel for use in brake pad shims, an important part used to eliminate brake noise, particularly in electric cars where annoying sounds are most clearly perceived. This is the subject of the agreement between SSAB, global steel company, and Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Kalmar AB, a manufacturer of sound-absorbing shims that wants to offer brake shims with a very low carbon footprint.
By changing the way steel is produced, SSAB wants to reduce emissions and create a fossil fuel-free value chain with customers and partners. SSAB has developed two unique types of steel that are produced with virtually no fossil carbon dioxide emissions: SSAB Zero TM and SSAB Fossil-freeTM steel. SSAB Zero TM is based on recycled steel scrap and is produced with fossil fuel-free electricity and biogas and is available for commercial delivery from 2023. SSAB Fossil-freeTM steel is produced from iron ore using HYBRIT® technology developed by SSAB together with iron ore producer LKAB and energy company Vattenfall.
Stefan Lundström, Business Unit President, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Kalmar AB
The technology, which has been tested on a pilot scale, uses hydrogen produced with fossil fuel-free electricity to produce iron, the primary raw material in steel production. The residual product is water instead of carbon dioxide. “Our unique solutions to eliminate vibration and noise in cars are based on our technical knowledge and experience. With fossil fuel-free steel in our components, we will leap forward and strengthen our position as market leader,” says Stefan Lundström, Business Unit President, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Kalmar AB.
Olavi Huhtala, head of SSAB Europe
“We are pleased to welcome Trelleborg Sealing Solutions as a fossil fuel-free partner. Together, we will support the automotive industry in delivering key components required by both manufacturers and consumers. In the end, we will deliver more sustainable cars to customers,” says Olavi Huhtala, head of SSAB Europe.
electric motor abstract image, electric drive for mechanisms
Sensorless Field Oriented Control (FOC) for high energy efficiency motors.
Two are the primary driving factors behind the adoption of advanced motor control systems based on Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs) with sensor-less Field Oriented Control (FOC): improving the energy efficiency and strengthening the product differentiation. Although it has been demonstrated that a PMSM with sensor-less FOC hits both targets, the success needs a design ecosystem that provides a holistic implementation approach. A holistic ecosystem will allow designers to overcome the implementation challenges that have hindered its adoption.
PMSM technology, towards the advanced motor control. Why PMSM?
A PMSM is a brushless motor that uses the electronic switching. It is often confused with the Brushless DC (BLDC) motor, another member of the family of brushless motors that also uses the electronic switching but features slight manufacturing differences. The PMSM construction is optimized for FOC, while the BLDC motor is optimized to use a six-phase switching technique. The optimization allows providing the PMSM with a sinusoidal Back-Electromotive Force (Back-EMF) and the BLDC motor with a trapezoidal Back EMF.
The position sensors of the rotor used with each of these motors are different, too. The PMSM typically uses a position encoder whereas BLDC motors exploit three Hall sensors for their operation. If the cost is a problem, designers can consider the eventual implementation of sensor-less techniques that eliminate the cost of the magnet, of sensors, of connectors and of the wiring. The elimination of sensors also improves the reliability since there are fewer components that can potentially breakdown in a system. When we compare a sensor-less PMSM with a sensor-less BLDC, the sensor-less PMSM that uses a FOC algorithm offers better performances, using a similar hardware design and with a comparable implementation cost.
The applications that will most benefit from a shift to PMSM are those that currently use a Brushed DC (BDC) or an AC Induction Motor (ACIM). The main advantages of the migration include a lower energy consumption, a higher speed, a more uniform torque, a lower audible noise, longer duration and smaller sizes, so making the application more competitive. However, to reap these highlights deriving from the use of a PMSM, a developer must implement the most complex FOC control technique together with other specific algorithms of the application to satisfy the system requisites. In fact, even if a PMSM is more expensive than a BDC or an ACIM, it substantially offers more advantages.
Fig. 1 – PMSM sensor-less three-phase control system that uses an inverter with three-phase voltage source
Implementation challenges
The implementation of the advantages of the use of a PMSM, however, needs the understanding of the hardware complexities concerning the implementation of a cutting-edge FOC motor control technique and the required domain expertise. The figure 1 shows a PMSM sensor-less three-phase control system that uses an inverter with three-phase voltage source. The inverter control requires three pairs of PWM high-resolution signals that are interconnected and numerous analogue feedback signals that need the signal conditioning. The system also needs fault tolerance hardware protection functions, designed by using high-speed analogue comparators for a fast response. These additional analogue components required for the detection, the control and the protection increase the cost of the solution, since they are not demanded for a typical scheme of BDC motor or for the simple Volt per Hertz (V/F) control of an ACIM.
There is also the necessary development time to define and to validate the specifications of the components for the control application of the PMSM motor. To face these challenges, designers can select a microcontroller that can offer a high level of analogue integration with the specifications of the customized device for the control of the PMSM motor. This will reduce the number of external necessary components and will optimize the Bill Of Material (BOM). Currently, highly integrated motor control devices are available, with high-resolution PWM to facilitate the implementation of advanced control algorithms, high-speed analogue peripherals for precision measuring and signal conditioning, hardware peripherals needed for the functional safety and serial interfaces for communication and debug.
Fig. 2 – Block diagram of a sensor-less standard FOC
The interaction between the motor control software and the electromechanical behaviour of the motor itself is as difficult. The figure 2 shows the standard block diagram of the sensor without FOC. To shift to an effective design concept, we need to understand the architecture of the controller and the instructions of the digital signal processor (DSP)for the implementation of math-intensive and time-critical control loops.
To obtain reliable performances, the control cycle must be carried out within a PWM period. There are three reasons for which it is necessary to optimize the control circuit times.
1) Constraint: using a PWM switching frequency equal to 20 KHz or higher (time lapse of 50 µS) to suppress the acoustic noise from the inverter switching.
2) To achieve a control system with higher bandwidth, the control loop must be executed within a PWM period.
3) To support other activities in background like the system monitoring, the specific functions of the application and the communication, the control cycle must be performed even faster. Consequently, the FOC algorithm should aim at an execution in less than 10 µs.
Many manufacturers provide examples of FoC software with sensor-less estimators of the rotor position. However, even before the motor can start rotating, the FOC algorithm must configure various parameters, so that they correspond to the motor and to the hardware. A further optimization of control parameters and of coefficients is necessary to hit the targets of demanded speed and efficiency. This is attained through a combination of:
derivation of parameters by using the technical card of the motor and
experimentation with a trial-and-error method. Developers will have to turn to the trial-and-error method when the motor parameters might not be always characterized with precision in the technical card of the motor or when designers will not have access to high- precision measuring instruments. This process of manual tuning requires time and expertise.
PMSM motors are used in several different applications, operating in different environments or with different design constraints. In the case, for instance, of a car radiator fan, it is possible that the fan blades rotate freely in the inverse direction owing to the wind when the motor is about to be started. Starting a PMSM motor with a sensor-less algorithm in this condition is a challenge and can potentially damage the inverter. A solution consists in detecting the rotation direction and the rotor position and using this information to slowdown the motor until the stop through an active braking before starting the motor. Likewise, implementing additional algorithms might be necessary, such as the Maximum Torque Per Ampere (MTPA), torque compensation and field weakening [1] etc. These kinds of additional application-specific algorithms are necessary to develop a practical solution, but at the same time they also add design complexity, extending developing times and complicating the software verification.
Fig. 3 – Applicative framework for FOC
For designers, a solution to decrease the complexity resides in creating a modular software architecture that allows adding specific algorithms of the application to the FOC algorithm, without influencing the time-critical execution. The figure 3 shows the software architecture of a typical application of real-time motor control. At the core of the framework there is the FOC function, which has a rigid time constraint and many additional specific functions for the application. A state machine inside the framework interfaces these control functions with the main application. The architecture needs a well-defined interface among the function blocks of the software to make it modular and to facilitate the user-friendly code maintenance. A modular framework supports the integration of different specific algorithms of the application together with other routines of monitoring, protection and functional safety of the system.
Another advantage of a modular architecture is the separation of the peripheral interface layer (or hardware abstraction layer) from the motor control software, which allows designers to migrate their IP from a motor controller to another when the application characteristics and the performance requisites change.
Requisites for a complete ecosystem
Facing these challenges requires a tailored motor control ecosystem for sensorless FOC designs. The motor controller, the hardware, the software and the development environment should collaborate to simplify the implementation process of advanced motor control algorithms. To succeed in it, the ecosystem is requested to have the following characteristics:
A high-level instrument to automate the measurement of motor parameters, to design control loops and to generate source code allows designers without domain expertise to implement the FOC motor control and to write and execute the debug of complex codes that generally take a long time;
An applicative framework for FOC and different additional specific algorithms for the application shorten development and test times;
The motor controllers with deterministic response and analogue integrated peripherals for the signal conditioning and the system protection in a single chip reduce the total cost of the solution.
The figure 4 shows an example of ecosystem architecture for motor control that includes the application framework and a development suite for Digital Signal Controller (DSC) dsPIC33 of high-performance motor control.
Fig. 4 – Architecture of the ecosystem for the motor control by Microchip Technology
The development suite is implemented around a FOC software development tool based on GUI that can measure the critical parameters of the motor and automatically adjust the feedback control gains. Moreover, it generates the source code demanded for a project created in the development environment by using a Motor Control Application Framework (MCAF). At the core of the stack of solutions there is the Motor Control Library, which allows implementing the time-critical control loop functions of the application and interacting with the control peripherals of the motor in the dsPIC33 DSC. This GUI operates in combination with several motor control development boards at disposal to support the extraction of motor parameters and the generation of the FOC code for a broad range of LV and HV motors.
The shift to brushless motors has been motivated by the need of a high energy efficiency and product differentiation. A complete motor control ecosystem provides a holistic approach to simplify the implementation of sensor-less FOCS with PMSM and should be composed by controllers for dedicated motors, development boards for rapid prototyping and user-friendly FOC development software to automate the code generation.
The “Smart and Lean Production Hairpin 4.0” project was conducted by Tecnomatic and the Department of Computer Science of UNIVPM – Università Politecnica delle Marche with the aim of studying the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in vision systems for post-weld inspection, with particular reference to the evaluation of hairpin welding quality in the stator.
Tecnomatic specializes in the design, development and implementation of automation and assembly systems. Building on active research and extensive experience, Tecnomatic has embraced electrification as an opportunity for growth and innovation. Since 1998, various studies on copper conductors with rectangular cross-section have provided considerable experience in hairpin technology. Continuing its commitment to the advancement of the industry, Tecnomatic actively collaborates with research institutes and universities to promote the development of innovative projects including in the field of artificial intelligence, with a focus on improving the quality of products and production processes.
Using tomography, the AI correlates the visual data with predetermined quality standards
The Project In 2020, Tecnomatic launched in collaboration with the Department of Computer Science of UNIVPM – Polytechnic University of Marche the Smart Hairpin project to explore the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in vision systems for post-weld inspection, with particular reference to the evaluation of the quality of hairpin welding in the stator. Speaking of AI and solder flow, in a fork stator assembly line, the soldering process follows the twisting phase. During twisting, the pins are aligned and twisted into place. Parameter setting is critical to ensure weld quality and reliability, and here, the role of the operator setting the weld “recipe” is crucial.
Artificial intelligence guides the laser beam and records the data, determining where the welder should perform the welding
The role of artificial intelligence In the initial vision phase and during final inspection, so both before and after welding, the role of AI is key. By analyzing the welding data, AI creates a feedback loop that identifies the optimal parameters for future prototypes. The data collected during the initial vision process is processed, and the information obtained defines the settings for the final inspection. In addition, artificial intelligence guides the laser beam and records the data, determining where the welder should perform the welding. Using tomography, the AI correlates the visual data with predetermined quality standards. During this phase, the AI focuses primarily on downstream control, ensuring a data-driven approach that increases the accuracy and continuous improvement of the welding process.
For high reliability of the fork stator assembly Before welding, AI systems analyze historical data to recommend the best initial parameters. This ensures that the process starts with the settings that previously resulted in high-quality welds. After welding, however, artificial intelligence evaluates the results to refine and adjust the parameters. This continuous optimization improves the quality and efficiency of the welding process, contributing to the overall reliability of the fork stator assembly.
For battery housings, an ideal solutions for automated and integrated ultrafine cleaning with corrosion protection are Plasmatreat’s Openair-Plasma and PlasmaPlus.
Surface treatment with atmospheric plasma technology is the environmentally friendly and efficient alternative to conventional cleaning methods for companies. In applications such as in the automotive industry, electric mobility or electronics, Plasmatreat GmbH’s Openair-Plasma and PlasmaPlus replace wet chemical processes such as electroplating. The innovative plasma technology can be used to finely clean the surfaces of various metals and alloys, such as aluminum, and apply wafer-thin coatings to prepare them for further processing.
For a battery housing enclosed by a lid, it is necessary to equip it with a reliable anti-corrosion layer
Anti-corrosion protection When considering a battery housing enclosed by a lid, it is necessary to equip it with a reliable anti-corrosion layer. The requirements in this area are very high since batteries are often mounted on the floor of the vehicle. In this critical area, the battery is exposed to water spray, snow and road salt, which can be very aggressive to the battery. If moisture gets into the housing and cells, the functionality of the battery is compromised and, in the worst case, a fire can occur. That is why absolute sealing is a must. Liquid seals or, more recently, solid seals that allow the housing to be opened for repairs are used for this purpose. Plasma treatment promotes reliable sealing: after cleaning the sealing point with Openair-Plasma, the edge of the housing receives the PlasmaPlus AntiCorr coating for active corrosion protection. The AntiCorr coating, on the other hand, allows corrosion protection to be applied selectively, exactly where it is needed on the housing. The process is also much more environmentally friendly and, most importantly, dry, as it does not require chemical baths.
The AntiCorr coating allows corrosion protection to be applied selectively, exactly where it is needed on the housing.
For cleaning various metal alloys Plasma technology is based on a simple physical principle: the addition of energy changes the states of matter. When energy is added to a gas, such as air, it ionizes and enters the high-energy plasma state, known as the fourth state of matter. When plasma, with its high energy level, comes into contact with materials, their surface properties change, such as from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. Plasmatreat has made this effect technically usable on a large scale with normal compressed air and under atmospheric pressure conditions. It does this with atmospheric plasma equipment, the so-called Openair-Plasma, and has developed innovative solutions for numerous material problems, which have proven particularly effective in the processing of various metals and aluminum alloys, for example. Depending on the type of contamination on the metal surface or application, outdoor plasma systems use different process gases, such as compressed air or formation gas.
In the PlasmaPlus coating process a functionalized surface with defined properties is created by nanocoating.
Protection without wet chemistry Another process developed by Plasmatreat is used to treat metal substrates: the PlasmaPlus coating process. In this process, a functionalized surface with defined properties is created by nanocoating. A precursor is mixed with a carrier gas and forms a very thin layer on the surface. Plasmatreat uses various organic and inorganic groups for different precursors to treat metals and has developed highly effective PlasmaPlus coatings, including the PlasmaPlus AntiCorr process, which provides a high-performance anti-corrosion coating for housing gaskets and electronic components.
OMRON has launched VT-X850, a 3D computed tomography X-ray inspection (TC 3D AXI) solution designed to meet critical inspection needs in the electric vehicle (EV) and electronic component manufacturing sectors.
Innovative design and modern technology that ensures speed, accuracy and ease of use. These are the features of the new VT-X850 X-ray solution of OMRON, that integrates a high-voltage X-ray tube and artificial intelligence. In the spotlight is the inspection process of assembly modules, focusing mainly on filling connector cylinders and power devices, with an emphasis on detecting gaps or insufficient welds.
Key features Among the pluses the company tells about the VT-X850 are higher speed and repeatability thanks to a high-voltage X-ray tube up to 160 kV, which ensures stable and clear images in a shorter time. In addition, the design accommodates modules up to 335 mm high and weighing up to 40 kg, ensuring wide applicability and versatility. Inspection is AI-based: binarization ensures superior image processing, making the VT-X850 an intuitive solution for users with different levels of technical expertise. In addition, the innovative design eliminates dependence on manual settings, offering precise and efficient inspections without the need for specialized skills.
Optimized user experience VT-X850’s removable design ensures easy maintenance and replacement of the X-ray tube using a manual lifting device. The unit is specifically designed to meet the growing needs for inspection of hard and complex materials, particularly in the EV market. “With the rapid growth of the EV market, the need for accurate, efficient and easy-to-use inspection solutions becomes paramount. VT-X850 is the ideal answer for manufacturers aiming for flawless quality control despite the complexities of different materials and components,” said Kevin Youngs, Sales Manager EMEA – Inspection Systems Division presso OMRON Europe
Tobias Wölk, Product Manager Automation Technology & Active Components at reichelt elektronik, spoke about Europe’s key role in the production of the components of the future.
Let’s take a historical step back: the coronavirus crisis exposed the EU and U.S. dependence on Asian chipmakers. As demand for semiconductors exploded, production lines stopped, especially in the automotive industry. But today, chip production in Europe is to restart, and according to the European Chip Act, Europe’s share of semiconductor production is expected to increase to 20 percent by 2030.
Tobias Wölk, Product Manager Automation & Active Components di Reichelt Elektronik
The €43 billion European plan “In terms of financial architecture, the European Chips Act will mobilize 43 billion euros in public and private investment, including 3.3 billion from the EU budget, and as of June 2023, funding has been approved for about 100 European projects,” saysTobias Wölk, Product Manager Automation Technology & Active Components, reichelt elektronik. The manager stressed that Europe is only able to achieve true sovereignty in semiconductor manufacturing through a fully Europeanized value chain, from front-end to back-end manufacturing. “We need more manufacturing factories, but we also need regionalization of processing industries. Otherwise, we will continue to be vulnerable to disruptions in the global supply chain and our dependence on Asia will persist. A European semiconductor market can only be truly independent if all production steps are relocated to our Continent.”
Fragile supply chains To save costs, many large semiconductor manufacturers have decided to outsource back-end manufacturing to service providers who specialize in the Asian market. These outsourced vendors are known as Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test Vendors (OSATs) and perform this work on behalf of large semiconductor companies. Nine of the world’s ten largest OSAT suppliers are located in the Asia-Pacific region (six in Taiwan, three in China). The complex manufacturing process makes global semiconductor supply chains particularly fragile in the face of a product that, on the other hand, is critical and increasingly crucial. Therefore, the EU’s Chip Act plan to strengthen European semiconductor production is obvious.
Forecast Simply relocating front-end production will not solve Europe’s dependence on semiconductors. “OSAT capacities must be increased to the same extent as front-end production. Otherwise, the localization of semiconductor production in Europe will remain incomplete and ineffective, as chips will still have to be sent abroad to be made ready for use,” Wölk explained. There is also a lack of adequate manpower to achieve such ambitious goals. According to calculations by PwC Strategy, there could be a shortage of about 350,000 workers by 2030 to meet the EU’s ambitious 20 percent target. “Another major bottleneck is the dependence on Chinese silicon production. Silicon, the most important raw material for microchips, is largely produced in China, a dependence that makes Europe vulnerable
The electric transition of heavy commercial vehicles, such as trucks, requires transmission technology made from gears with larger diameters, larger modules and finer roughness. Here is the challenge that gear and machine manufacturers are facing to meet the new market demands.
The transmission is subjected to different loads than in the past and must be made much more precisely. At the same time, transmission efficiency is a top priority by requiring low friction to minimize energy consumption and maximize vehicle range.
The new grinding machines A whole series of Kapp Niles gear grinding machines are used at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Gaggenau for fine precision machining. For large gears, a new KNG 350 flex machine was purchased, which is suitable both for use in the prototype areas up to large series production. With the option of enlarging the work area and the use of combination grinding wheels up to 200 mm wide for superfinish grinding or polishing applications, large gears can be efficiently machined for e-mobility.
Kapp Niles KNG 350 flex gear grinding center
The KX 260 TWIN and KX 260 TWIN HS machines with small tools are used for gear shafts and enable continuous-generation grinding with dressable and non-grinding tools. The concept involves two identical workpiece spindles arranged opposite each other on a rotary table. Parallel to the machining of one workpiece, loading and unloading takes place, including the alignment of another workpiece on the second spindle.
Polishing superstar When it comes to Polishing for commercial vehicles, increased side-loading capacity of gears and improved efficiency are essential. Kapp Niles machines use special worm wheels with two areas, one for conventional grinding and one for polishing grinding, making it possible to produce gears with roughness as low as Rz < 1 μm in a single take. “By now, polishing has been implemented across the entire line of electric gears,” the company explained. The key challenge is to maintain stable roughness quality in mass production.
Combined polishing process of a large component for electric mobility
Large components “When the design for the KNG 350 flex was developed, the focus was already on large components for truck transmissions, but at the time these were components with a diameter of about 300 mm. With the electric transmission, gears up to almost 400 mm in diameter have suddenly appeared. This affects both the work space and the handling area,” said Markus Reißenweber, sales manager Europe and America at Kapp Niles. With a weight of about 30 kg, the components have a heavier weight and a larger module that require new processes, such as polishing grinding and preparation for mass production, so they can run smoothly in three shifts.
ABB has secured a propulsion single source vendor contract with Washington State Ferries (WSF), the United States’ largest ferry system, for five new hybrid electric vessels
ABBhas been awarded a contract by Washington State Ferries (WSF) to serve as the propulsion single source vendor (PSSV) for its groundbreaking new hybrid electric 160-auto ferries. This project marks a significant milestone in the evolution of sustainable maritime transportation in the US and beyond, with ABB playing a pivotal role in the development and delivery of the five new build vessels. In its role as PSSV, ABB will supply comprehensive hybrid electric propulsion systems that include the Onboard DC Grid™ power distribution solution, energy storage, advanced energy management, and integrated marine automation. The innovative propulsion package is designed to enhance operational efficiency, help reduce emissions, and ensure reliable performance for the new vessels. ABB will also deliver extensive design and engineering support, working closely with WSF to ensure seamless integration of the hybrid electric technology into the new ferries. This collaborative approach underscores ABB’s commitment to delivering tailored solutions that meet the unique needs of its partners. “We are honored to be selected by Washington State Ferries as its propulsion single source vendor for the new hybrid electric 160-auto ferries,” said Drew Orvieto, Vice president of sales for Marine Systems, US at ABB Marine & Ports. “This partnership highlights our shared vision for sustainability and our dedication to pioneering advanced technologies that drive the industry forward. We look forward to supporting WSF in its mission to provide cleaner, more efficient ferry services for the communities they serve.” WSF manages the largest ferry system in the United States, operating 21 auto-passenger ferries across 10 routes serving 19 terminals. The five new hybrid electric ferries will be the first of 16 new vessels delivered as part of WSF’s $3.98 billion Ferry System Electrification plan. The new ferries will play a crucial role in WSF’s strategy to modernize its fleet and reduce its environmental footprint.
Washington State Ferries selects ABB
By integrating ABB’s propulsion systems, WSF aims to achieve significant reductions in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in pursuit of a zero-emission ferry fleet by 2050 in alignment with the state’s broader environmental goals. “Big picture, this contract with ABB is about rebuilding our fleet and restoring reliable service to our customers,” said Matt von Ruden, WSF system electrification program administrator. “ABB’s specialized knowledge and expertise helps reduce risk and ensure performance in the design, construction and delivery of our first five new hybrid-electric ferries.”
If lithium and other materials are concentrated in a few territories, alternatives must be found to make storage systems more efficient and improve the supply chain to our advantage.
A critical role in the energy transition in different sectors is played by batteries, whose diffusion is also supported by decreasing costs and the increasing share of electricity generated from renewable sources that increasingly needs storage systems.
In terms of chemistry, today batteries that rely on the use of lithium make up the vast majority of batteries used, which also rely on the use of cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite. These are materials that pose a problem when it comes to supply because today the production and processing of these materials are geographically highly concentrated in very few places. In 2019, for example, China was responsible for about 60 percent of global cobalt and rare earth production. Currently, every stage of battery production, from mining the minerals to using chemicals to produce the final battery components, is geographically concentrated in areas outside Europe. By the way, Europe is investing large sums of money in building facilities for cell production, assembly and recycling of batteries to become a key production location. In this direction, the Fraunhofer Research Institute, together with eight other research institutes, has developed the digital twin concept for battery cell production.
With “lithium batteries” we indicate a series of different battery typologies that contain, besides lithium, variable quantities of critical minerals, depending on the cathode chemistry. (Source and Credits: IEA)
The alternatives to lithium
The dependence toward certain materials found only in certain territories drives innovation and paradigm shifts toward optimizing existing technologies and developing new battery solutions. In this area, another key theme is battery recycling and remanufacturing: the opportunities arising from the management of spent batteries are already beginning to incentivize traditional players in the value chain to extend their expertise to adjacent roles.
Toward the cathode focuses the interest of researchers, including those at Fraunhofer ISI, who study lithium-ion batteries along with nickel, manganese and cobalt. Research to replace or diminish these minerals has led to various solutions, including metal-ion, metal-sulfide, air-metal, and redox flow batteries. Sodium-ion batteries have also attracted considerable interest from manufacturers because they do not require critical and expensive minerals such as lithium, but could be produced on the same production lines as lithium batteries, with all the advantages. To date, however, their energy density barely reaches 2/3 of that of lithium batteries, making them unattractive to the automotive industry.
Geographical distribution of batteries’ global supply chain. China dominates in each phase (Source and Credits IEA)
Advantages and obstacles
While on a theoretical level air-metal batteries involve the use of a metal other than lithium, on a practical level they present a number of complications.Another chemical combination that has been paid attention to is lithium-sulfide due to its high energy density, but due to its too short lifespan it is not yet so concretely appealing to the market.
Solid-state batteries, an emerging technology to extend the duration of lithium-ion batteries
In addition, flow batteries could become an alternative to lithium-ion for stationary storage systems, using vanadium as the primary element, but an obstacle here is economic.
Solid-state batteries are lithium batteries where, however, solid or near-solid electrolytes are used instead of traditional liquid electrolytes, with the goal of increasing the energy density of the cells and their safety. To date, there are limitations in terms of pack-level integration because they are subject to higher battery pressures. However, researchers agree to support the development of these batteries, particularly for applications that require long-range driving, such as electric trucks, especially in markets where the establishment of widespread charging infrastructure or battery replacement might be difficult.
Protean Electric, productor of in-wheel motor technology for passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and future transport solutions has announced the production launch of its ProteanDrive Generation 5, an industrialised product with enhanced performance, scalability and affordability. Engineered, tested and produced by UK-headquartered Protean Electric, the ‘Gen 5’ ProteanDrive Pd18 IWM provides a fully integrated inverter, all housed inside an 18-inch wheel package, suitable for all automotive and mobility applications. Production commenced in Q3 2023 and since then shipments have been dispatched to OEMs and mobility trailblazers worldwide from Protean’s advanced manufacturing facility in Tianjin, China. This production launch and associated IATF 16949 certification, further demonstrates full-scale industrialisation of a mature and advanced IWM product available. Andrew Whitehead, Chief Executive Officer of Protean Electric, said, “In-wheel motors are a critical component to the future of the electric vehicle industry. The availability of an industrialised Pd18 positions Protean Electric at the forefront of the market. This technology will allow vehicle manufacturers to adopt in-wheel-motors at scale and at an affordable price, as they seek to differentiate their product offering in an increasingly crowded electric vehicle market.”
