"PEAk-Bat": PEM Aims to Reduce Battery System Production Effort

The chair "Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components" (PEM) of RWTH Aachen University has joined forces with renowned industrial partners such as Ford and Trumpf to launch the "PEAk-Bat" project funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The three-year research project is dedicated to the development of structural battery systems and their cost reduction for an earlier market entry.

 

The basic tripartite structure of batteries – consisting of the cells, the modules, and the pack – can be broken up by eliminating the module level and integrating the battery cells directly into the pack housing. The aim of the consortium is to use this "cell-to-pack" approach to increase both the mass-related and the spatial energy density of batteries in the future. In this way, efficiency increases of up to 20 percent should be possible. Reducing complexity and the number of components should also cut costs.

Shorter test times, earlier market entry

The project partners are primarily focusing on novel approaches for virtual validation of battery systems in order to reduce the number of battery tests in the development process. "Early validation with the help of artificial intelligence can reduce errors that are crucial for the subsequent production steps and lower prototype costs," says Konstantin Sasse, PEM's project manager. "This is made possible by saving test times, which results in faster development of novel battery systems and thus earlier market entry," adds PEM chief engineer Christian Offermanns.

Demonstrators and test rigs planned

To this end, the project partners initially want to develop a structural battery system as a demonstrator, as well as launch a methodology for assessing the need for testing when battery systems are modified. Subsequently, several demonstrators and test rigs of structural battery systems are to be set up, test methods for cell safety validated and various safeguard tests carried out. In addition to the PEM Chair, Ford-Werke GmbH and TRUMPF SE + Co. KG, the consortium also includes Farasis Energy Europe GmbH, TÜV Rheinland Automotive Component Testing GmbH, SCIO Technology GmbH and ACTS Advanced Car Technology Systems GmbH & Co. KG.

Further information on the project is provided here.