- Mercedes is experimenting with multiple-chemistry battery packs which have a couple of kind of cell.
- A brand new kind of micro-converter and hooking up the battery cells in parallel not in collection makes this doable.
- This innovation will enhance battery pack efficiency, modularity and area effectivity.
Whereas the main points surrounding the impressively environment friendly new electrical CLA had been a very powerful information we obtained whereas in Stuttgart final week, Mercedes-Benz additionally gave us a glimpse at what it’s cooking up for the long run. Among the many many inventions we had been proven on the occasion known as Mercedes Future Expertise was a brand new kind of energy converter that enables for way 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 each. For this method to work, the cells should be related in parallel, not in collection, which unlocks new potentialities.
For example, a car with this method may stability the cost in its cells much better than in the present day’s EVs. It may detect and isolate broken cells with out affecting the complete battery pack, and it could additionally enable for a way more correct battery well being examine, which might simply have the ability to pinpoint downside cells and examine their particular person parameters.
This new kind of micro-converter can even preserve the entire battery pack voltage fixed whatever the state of cost. It usually varies with the state of cost.
Mercedes explains that “analysis outcomes present it’s doable to supply a continuing 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 not depending on the variety of cells related 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 way more modular battery packs than what now we have in in the present day’s EVs, leading to extra environment friendly use of area. It may assist automakers reduce 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 potential of utilizing a number of chemistries throughout the identical battery pack, particularly each LFP and NMC cells. Schäfer advised us “Sure, that is precisely the thought, to combine and match,” and he confirmed that the potential 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 automotive provided that this innovation continues to be within the very early levels of testing.
LFP (brief for lithium iron phosphate) batteries can higher take common quick charging all the best way to 100%, exhibiting much less degradation than NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) batteries. In addition they have higher thermal stability and are extra reasonably priced. 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.
