How powerful car data will improve EV battery performance
The popularity of motorsport does not seem to be waning. With its reach expanded by the Netflix hit show Drive to Survive, Formula 1 in particular has gained an entirely new audience platform. What its electric car Formula E sister competition may lack in distinctive sound profile (and on-screen drama) it makes up for in more eco-friendly engineering.
With new battery technology, Formula E cars could soon beat F1’s in speed. In addition, the experience gained from the circuits can also be applied to improve the lifespan and performance of commercial EV batteries.
Ultra-high performance platform on display in Bologna
This week WAE (formerly known as Williams Advanced Engineering, a branch of Williams Grand Prix Engineering, the company behind the Williams F1 racing team), showed off its latest ultra-high performance electric vehicle platform EVR at the E-TECH Europe conference in Bologna.
With its state-of-the-art 85 kWh battery and a peak power of 1650 kW, EVR enables acceleration from 0-100 km/h in less than 2.0 seconds and a top speed of over 400 km/h. For reference, the top speed ever recorded by an F1 car was just over 397 km/h when the Honda F1 team drove a modified version of their Formula 1 car across Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.
The third generation of Formula E cars currently racing can reach speeds of around 320 km/h. Meanwhile, Croatian Rimac Nivera set the top speed for an electric hypercar last year when he reached 415 km/hat the Automotive Testing Papenburn circuit in Germany.
Offering EV developers a modular approach
The company says EVR has inherent flexibility and modularity, allowing it to provide startups with a complete turnkey solution that includes the entire vehicle, as well as exterior design support.
“We wanted to put something on our own platform because whether it’s a new starter, a brand re-entry or even an established OEM looking for a halo car, it’s a step forward in development of vehicles that maybe three to four years. We can give them something that’s been in that process for 12 months,” said Chris McCaw, chief engineer at WAE, mention.
In addition to the EVR platform, WAE’s stand at E-TECH also showcased the Scalable Battery Module (SBM) system and the prototype TE-1 e-motorcycle, Triumph’s first zero-emission prototype demonstrator.
WAE supplies the electrical systems for nearly all electric racing series, including Gen 3 Formula E, Extreme E, ETCR and Skootr electric racing. Since 2013, customers of the company’s products have won nine Drivers’ Championships and eight Constructors’ Championships, recently outperforming its petrol cousin.
Today, WAE also launched Elysia – its new battery intelligence business that grew out of more than a decade of experience in the high-performance electric vehicle industry. The company says it brings together electrochemistry, modeling, AI and data science to improve the performance of any battery system.
Battery intelligence software to improve battery health and lifespan
The Elysia software package is divided into two branches. The first consists of embedded algorithms designed to run on standard automotive hardware platforms. The second is a cloud platform with forecasts designed to detect real-world failure mechanisms. Everything from e-scooters to street cars and electrified mining trucks will benefit, the company says.
Tim Engström, technology lead at Elysia by WAE, says the modern lithium-ion battery is currently experiencing a “second coming,” largely due to the use of available data.
“The advent of mainstream, low-cost telematics has given manufacturers and fleet owners the opportunity to understand more about their vehicles than ever before,” Engström states.
However, he believes that the transformative potential of this data has been underutilized so far. After a big push in connectivity, now is the time to harness the battery data and “transform electric mobility at scale.”
“Battery intelligence is a new discipline that seamlessly connects battery data to electrochemists, battery systems engineers and data scientists with the sole purpose of delivering actionable insights to improve and protect value over the life of the battery,” continued Engström.
The presentation of EVR and the launch of Elysia took place during the second edition of the E-TECH Europe conference in Bologna. The city is at the center of Italy’s ‘motorcycle valley’, where iconic brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ducati and Bugatti were born.
Hundreds of companies exhibited their products in areas such as EV technology, fuel cell solutions, polymers, navigation systems, driver identification systems, autonomous driving and connectivity.
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