- Mercedes is experimenting with multiple-chemistry battery packs which have a couple of sort of cell.
- A brand new sort of micro-converter and hooking up the battery cells in parallel not in sequence makes this attainable.
- 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 referred to as Mercedes Future Expertise was a brand new sort of energy converter that enables for far more management over a battery pack than ever earlier than.
Its programmable micro-converter could 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 technique to work, the cells must be linked in parallel, not in sequence, which unlocks new prospects.
As an example, a automobile with this technique may stability the cost in its cells much better than at the moment’s EVs. It may detect and isolate broken cells with out affecting your complete battery pack, and it will additionally enable for a way more correct battery well being examine, which might simply be capable to pinpoint drawback cells and examine their particular person parameters.
This new sort of micro-converter may 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 offer 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 automobile battery is not depending on the variety of cells linked in sequence. The quantity is decided purely by the specified efficiency and capability class.”
If this makes it into manufacturing, it will additionally enable for far more modular battery packs than what we now have in at the moment’s EVs, leading to extra environment friendly use of area. It may assist automakers minimize prices by making use of elevated standardization and modularization when utilized on a big scale.
Throughout a spherical desk speak with Mercedes’ Chief Expertise Officer Markus Schäfer, we requested about the opportunity of utilizing a number of chemistries inside the identical 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 after we may see such a pack in a manufacturing automotive provided that this innovation remains to be within the very early levels of testing.
LFP (quick 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. In addition they have higher thermal stability and are extra inexpensive. Nonetheless, NMC batteries can retailer extra present and are most well-liked for large-capacity battery packs that energy long-range EVs. Having each in the identical battery pack would have a number of benefits, profiting from each their strengths.
