A composite alternative to metal battery enclosures

A collaboration between Solvay and Airborne is targeted at maximizing the energy capacity of lightweight and compact next-generation battery packs for e-mobility. The Battery Enclosure Materials Automation (BEMA) project of Solvay for developing an all-composite solution for energy efficient battery packs has won major funding by Innovate UK as part of UK Research and Innovation, the United Kingdom national innovation agency.

This collaboration with Airborne, a technology leader in advanced composites manufacturing using automation and digitalization, has already received letters of support from Jaguar Land Rover and Vertical Aerospace. They see great potential in the design of more compact and lightweight enclosures for high-energy batteries in future electric cars and aircraft and are interested in the sustainability aspect of this project which aims to reuse composite waste.

“There is a pressing need to meet net-zero emission regulations and targets with more energy efficient electric powertrain and propulsion solutions.” said Mark Wright, EMEA Sales manager, Automotive, at Solvay Materials. “While already lending structural and weight saving advantages over metals in existing EVs and aircraft, fully composite battery designs for larger production volumes have yet to show their technical and manufacturing feasibility. BEMA seeks to deliver on these challenges by combining the benefits of Solvay’s advanced thermosetting material technology with Airborne’s expertise in flexible automated composite manufacturing systems to create lightweight next-generation battery packs. This will provide a significant step-change towards higher energy efficiency at reduced size.”

“As the demand for industrial quantities of composite battery enclosures grows, the challenge is to shorten the design phase, and provide Design-for-Automation guidance” said Joe Summers, Commercial Director of Airborne. “Working with Solvay will build material characteristics into Design-for-Manufacture rules for our multi-material automated ply placement technology, and subsequently allow us to connect our adaptable automation platform with intelligent planning and optimization”.

BEMA is currently in a pre-industrial testing and evaluation stage. Mechanical impact, shielding, thermal and fire performance tests are underway at Solvay Composite Materials Application Centre in Heanor, United Kingdom, and at external service providers. In a next project phase, prototypes will be produced to validate the new composite battery enclosure solutions in field trials and obtain proof of concept for industrialization. The project will also address rate capability, cost and sustainability challenges. Tangible and dependable results are expected within an overall project time of two years.