High performance batteries for equipment
If you are converting a vehicle to an electric drivetrain that has to operate in extreme conditions our battery solution can help you overcome your challenges.
- Operates in extreme hot or cold conditions
- Ideal for high voltage usage
- Proven quality for high end applications
- Long lifetime
Extreme hot conditions
When operating in extreme hot conditions, temperature management in the battery pack has the highest priority to create a relevant business case to go electric. In most cases the battery pack counts for about 40% of the total cost of an application. To make a solid business case, this battery pack should last a long time to be able to get to an affordable total cost of ownership. Recent studies show that efficiently (liquid) cooled battery packs are degrading up to 2 to 3 times les than normal packs. That means that these packs last longer and have a dramatic positive influence on the total cost of ownership.
The cooling technology we developed also allows for many types of different fluid cooling options. So even in the most extreme hot and humid situations we can guarantee operating temperatures of the battery cells within specs of the cell supplier.
Besides our efficient cooling, we de developed an inhouse safety system that ensures electric safety up to 2500 volts. Even in the most humid and most working conditions.
Extreme cold conditions
One of our partners is involved in the development and production of special vehicles and equipment. Biggest challenges here are that a large part of their customers operate in extreme environments where temperatures regularly drop below -25 degrees Celsius and, more importantly, operations are located in delicate and vulnerable arctic eco-systems. During the winter season these vehicles are all outdoors without much protection. With the current combustion engines that is already a challenge. If you want to move forward towards clean drivetrains, these challenges only increase.
Accepting this challenge we first have a look at the current daily routines like working hours a day, duration of a shift, breaks and of course the load cycle of the current machinery. How much ‘heavy lifting’ is actually done during a shift. And what is the share of actual moving the machinery around related to the specific tasks the equipment is intended for.
The Power Battery concept is dedicated to optimized temperature management of Li-Ion battery packs. In most situations that means active cooling of the cells during heavy use. But in this specific case it was all about heating instead of cooling. Because of the efficient temperature management we are able to bring the complete battery back to operating temperatures in a very short time.
The smart battery management system can be configured via the cloud so that right before a shift starts, just the right amount of energy is pulled from the battery pack or charging pole to meet the temperature needs at that specific moment. This means all the necessary power for the heavy work is directly available and there is a steady supply of electricity to insure smooth and safe operations.
On one hand this use case demands smart adjustments in dealing with these subzero temperatures. On the other hand we found that also the users of the machinery need to be trained to deal with a different way of operating the machinery and dealing with a different way of using the machine on a day to day basis.
We focus on the technical issues with the battery packs. With our close partner network all other related issues are dealt with.
Heavy-duty equipment
The market for heavy duty and construction equipment is transforming fast towards clean and electric or hybrid drive trains. In most cases the construction companies find this shift essential for their long term strategy and existence. Another reason for this shift is that these companies often operate in delicate and vulnerable environments and they do not want do pollute these with diesel fuels and noise pollution. In some countries this transition is more forced because governments only grant permits if the complete construction site is emission free.
Developing a completely new heavy duty vehicle takes many years while the demand for clean drive trains in these applications is growing fast. For at least the coming five years retrofitting is the best way to meet the market demand.
Several studies show that using a clean drive train can already reduce the total cost of ownership with 21% yearly. Even with a retrofitted machine.
In most business cases for heavy-duty equipment the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery is the best way to go. These batteries are cheaper than Li-Ion batteries, but also very heavy and large. Using the Power Battery technology we can pack two to three times more power and energy in the same volume and weight. In this kind of projects we deploy our battery pack engineering skills and production knowledge.
Besides the more common heavy-duty equipment there are very demanding applications that require much more high continuous power, (extreme)power buffers or operate in extreme conditions such as in mines, deserts or at the arctic circle. Often these applications are restricted regarding weight, volume and power density. In those cases the Power Battery inhouse developed liquid controlled temperature management is the way to go. With our test equipment we can simulate use cases and load cycles to define the power needed for the application.
Get in contact to discuss your requirements regarding the use and business case. Our business engineers are always open to help you getting started and ready for the transition towards a clean drive train for your application.
In such projects we will address:
- Use case scenario’s
- Load cycles
- Maintenance and support
- Business case and TCO
- Find the best solution for your clean drive train
To get you started we created a calculation tool that provides you with the first insights in comparing performance, weight and volume of both the LiFePo and Li-Ion option based on the requirements you enter.