- Mercedes is experimenting with multiple-chemistry battery packs which have multiple kind of cell.
- A brand new kind of micro-converter and hooking up the battery cells in parallel not in collection makes this attainable.
- This innovation will enhance battery pack efficiency, modularity and house effectivity.
Whereas the main points surrounding the impressively environment friendly new electrical CLA have been an important information we obtained whereas in Stuttgart final week, Mercedes-Benz additionally gave us a glimpse at what it’s cooking up for the longer term. Among the many many inventions we have been proven on the occasion known as Mercedes Future Expertise was a brand new kind of energy converter that permits for rather more management over a battery pack than ever earlier than.
Its programmable micro-converter will be wirelessly managed and embedded into the battery pack and managed wirelessly. This permits for management on a person cell pair, permitting for a lot finer adjustment of the cost that goes into every one. For this technique to work, the cells must be linked in parallel, not in collection, which unlocks new potentialities.
As an illustration, a car with this technique may steadiness the cost in its cells much better than right this moment’s EVs. It may detect and isolate broken cells with out affecting your entire battery pack, and it could additionally enable for a way more correct battery well being verify, which might simply have the ability to pinpoint drawback cells and verify their particular person parameters.
This new kind of micro-converter also can preserve the overall battery pack voltage fixed whatever the state of cost. It sometimes varies with the state of cost.
Mercedes explains that “analysis outcomes present it’s attainable to supply a relentless HV output of 800 volts, whatever the state of cost and the state of well being of the person cells. The output voltage of this car battery is now not depending on the variety of cells linked in collection. The quantity is set purely by the specified efficiency and capability class.”
If this makes it into manufacturing, it could additionally enable for rather more modular battery packs than what we’ve in right this moment’s EVs, leading to extra environment friendly use of house. It may assist automakers lower prices by making use of elevated standardization and modularization when utilized on a big scale.
Throughout a spherical desk speak with Mercedes’ Chief Know-how Officer Markus Schäfer, we requested about the opportunity of utilizing a number of chemistries inside the similar battery pack, particularly each LFP and NMC cells. Schäfer advised us “Sure, that is precisely the concept, to combine and match,” and he confirmed that the opportunity of an LFP and NMC pack is within the playing cards. He didn’t say once we may see such a pack in a manufacturing automobile on condition that this innovation remains to be within the very early phases of testing.
LFP (brief for lithium iron phosphate) batteries can higher take common quick charging all the way in which to 100%, exhibiting much less degradation than NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) batteries. Additionally they have higher thermal stability and are extra inexpensive. Nonetheless, NMC batteries can retailer extra present and are most popular for large-capacity battery packs that energy long-range EVs. Having each in the identical battery pack would have a number of benefits, benefiting from each their strengths.
