ADS-TEC Energy provides battery-buffered ultra-fast charging systems, and the company says that customers are successfully implementing its systems in a wide range of use cases.
ADS-TEC’s solutions are designed to enable charge point operators to deploy DC fast charging without requiring electrical service upgrades.
“The fact that our products can show their full strength in real-life applications is the best feedback for us,” said Thomas Speidel, CEO, ADS-TEC Energy. “We are pleased to receive extremely positive feedback from our successful CPO partners, such as amperio, GP Joule Connect and Jolt Energy.”
Customers have shown sustained high performance with power levels up to 320 kW in various applications, including public parking lots, retail stores, gas stations, car dealerships and car rental facilities.
“The solution is attractive if the grid connection is not sufficient for ultra-fast charging,” said Manuel Reich, Managing Director, GP Joule Connect. “With ADS-TEC Energy, we can offer this without complex grid expansion. The use of storage-based, ultra-fast charging stations represents a highly scalable business for very many of our business partners in various application areas.”
“We are continuing to expand our ultra-fast charging in cities, and have now installed seven charging stations in Munich,” said Jolt Energy CEO Maurice Neligan. “We are opening up new locations with the launch of the new MerlinOne Charger with digital advertising displays, and we have equipped an office complex in Munich with a Jolt Charge Park. The interest from gas stations, supermarkets and real estate companies has been tremendous.”
“We plan to include ADS-TEC Energy’s storage-based, ultra-fast-charging stations in many of our projects, including rental car providers, independent car dealerships and other car dealership locations,” said Oliver Kaul, CEO, amperio. “Following strong feedback from the market, we aim to at least double the number of installed systems in the coming year.”
Aisin, a Japanese automotive parts company, has jointly developed an ultra-high-efficiency motor with Tohoku Magnet Institute, in which Aisin invested last June.
The ultra-high-efficiency motor is made by processing NANOMET into the core and stator. NANOMET is a nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloy that achieves both high-saturation magnetic flux density and ultra-low iron loss. It was invented at the Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University and is sold by TMI, a spin-out from Tohoku University. This technology halves the loss compared to traditional EV motors that employ electromagnetic steel plates and improves the vehicle’s electric power efficiency by over 3%, according to the company.
Aisin aims to enhance and test the technology to introduce the motor to the EV market by 2029.
With the growth and development of battery pack technologies, manufacturers of electric vehicles (EV) place greater emphasis on pack design optimization, seeking more compact solutions to improve energy density and reduce cost. In the assembly of high-voltage battery packs, dielectric protection is critical. Manufacturers often apply dielectric materials to the battery cells, cooling plates, and adjacent components.
Table 1: List of dielectric materials evaluated in this white paper
Dielectric materials are typically polymeric in nature and require the following performance attributes:
High dielectric strength
Good adhesion to substrates
Durable after exposure to chemical, thermal, and mechanical forces
Applied at thin film thickness (50-250 microns)
Easily applied in a high throughput manufacturing process
With applications in battery cells, bus bars, cooling plates, side plates, walls, and battery lids, dielectric materials are critical in EV components where electrical isolation is required (Figure 1).
Figure 1: EV components where electrical isolation is required.
Completed Testing
For the study, a series of five tests were completed:
Hipot Test: High Potential (Hipot) equipment was used to measure the breakdown voltage of dielectric materials per ASTM D3755. The breakdown voltage is the minimum voltage where a material experiences electrical breakdown and becomes electrically conductive.
Adhesion: This test looks at how well the coating stick to the aluminum. Crosshatch adhesion was conducted per ASTM D3359. A rating of 5 indicates excellent adhesion and a rating of zero indicates poor adhesion.
Environmental Aging: Coated specimens for hipot and adhesion data were aged at 85°C / 85% RH for up to 3 weeks in an ESPEC environmental chamber. Another set of specimens were exposed to thermal cold shock cycling from -40°C to 100°C for up to 120 cycles using a Thermotron SE400 environmental chamber.
Failure Mode: The failure mode was analyzed to determine the weakest point for the bonding assembly. A cohesive coating failure indicates that the weakest point is the cohesive strength of the coating.
Thermal Conductivity: Thermal conductivity was measured according to ASTM D5470 using 1400 TIM tester. Aluminum disks (33 mm diameter, 3 mm thick) were coated with varying film thicknesses (50 to 200 micron) of dielectric material. The disks were compressed to 50 kPa pressure in the TIM tester.
Technical Comparisons
1) Cost and Productivity
Besides performance, the economics of a dielectric material solution is critical to the decision of which to implement for a manufacturer. While each dielectric material has its target application, it is important to assess each product’s application time, ease of automation, labor and energy costs, and the potential equipment investment required for a full-rate automotive application.
When considering cost and productivity, PET films are easy to apply to geometrically simple parts but challenging for complex parts. On the other hand, powder coating has the advantage that excess material can be collected and reused but can be difficult to achieve even coating thickness on complicated geometries. LORD JMC coatings use standard applications and large curing ovens while also not relying on static deposition. Meaning, it is sprayed where it is wanted and not sprayed where it is not wanted. Meanwhile, Sipiol UV has low upfront capital investment and can be robotically spray-applied, making it an efficient option.
2) Electrical Isolation
Electrical isolation is a primary requirement for the safety and performance of EV battery components. Minimum breakdown voltage is used to quantify a material’s electrical isolation performance and is measured via direct current hipot equipment in the air. Higher material breakdown voltage translates into improved electrical isolation and improved safety and performance of EV battery components.
Parker Lord found that:
PET film has the highest dielectric strength but lower adhesion strength and is limited to flat surfaces.
Powder coating has the lowest dielectric strength and requires a thicker film to meet voltage withstand requirements.
Both Sipiol UV and LORD JMC coatings can achieve high voltage withstand with a thickness of 90-120 microns and are recommended for battery components with sharper edges and radii.
3) Edge Coverage
Often battery components will have edges and corners that require coverage for electrical isolation. As illustrated in Figure 2, electrical isolation performance depends on film thickness. Thus, determining the coating film thickness on an edge is important for understanding the electrical isolation performance.
Of the four coatings applied to two different substrates and analyzed for coverage and thickness, Sipiol UV and powder coating were effective in uniformly coating sharp corners, but LORD JMC had difficulty with sharp corners and imperfections in the metal. Therefore, a higher thickness target may be needed for very sharp radii to achieve adequate electrical protection.
Figure 2: DC Breakdown voltage in the air as a function of film thickness for the four dielectric materials tested. The error bars are the standard deviation. The green dashed line indicates the voltage withstand requirement of 3 kV and the blue dashed line denotes the high voltage withstand requirement of 5 kV.
4) Thermal Conductivity
In addition to electrical isolation, thermal management is another critical requirement for EV performance. Poor thermal management may result in thermal runaway events, reduce the efficiency of electronic components, and lower the EV’s power. Hence, it is important to remove heat from battery and powertrain components efficiently.
For EV applications requiring high electrical isolation and heat transfer, LORD JMC is the preferred product, followed by powder coating, Sipiol UV, and PET. It is important to consider both a material’s inherent thermal conductivity and the required film thickness for electrical isolation when assessing its overall heat transfer capabilities.
5) Adhesion and Environment
Adhesion is another important factor when evaluating which dielectric materials. Once the dielectric material is applied, it must remain on the component surface to provide dielectric protection for the product’s life. In addition, good adhesion to the metal substrate and adhesive is important for effective heat transfer. The required adhesion strength varies depending on where it is used.
Of all the materials tested, Sipiol UV had the highest adhesion strength, followed by powder coating and LORD JMC. PET film had the lowest adhesion strength, which could be improved with plasma treatment. The thermal shock cycling had minimal negative effects on adhesion for all materials, while exposure to 85°C / 85% RH condition had moderate reductions in adhesion strength. All four dielectric materials have excellent crosshatch adhesion to aluminum before and after environmental exposure.
Summary and Conclusions
The choice of dielectric materials for specific battery components depends on many factors, including cost and productivity, dielectric strength, edge coverage, thermal conductivity, adhesion, and electrical isolation.
Continuous development of the mentioned dielectric materials is ongoing. There are products that are being developed to improve heat transfer, adhesion, corner coverage, ease of application, and cost. It’s important to identify the key performance and production attributes and work closely with coating suppliers and manufacturing integrators to implement successful solutions. If you are interested in learning more about Lord JMC or Sipiol UV, reach out to Parker Lord today. And to download their whitepaper, visit this link.
Idemitsu Kosan, a Japanese energy company, has developed an oil for e-axle drive units, electronics and battery systems in EVs and hybrids.
The E-axle and Electric Parts Cooling Oil allows direct cooling of motors and other electronics such as the battery and power control unit (PCU), and enables lubrication of gears and bearings in an e-axle drive unit. The company plans to sell the oil to automobile manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers in Japan and overseas.
An e-axle includes an electric motor, an inverter and gearbox. Idemitsu Kosan has also developed Idemitsu Nanourea, a lubricant for motor spindles, hubs and ball joint bearings, and Idemitsu Original Shock Absorber Fluid for shock absorbers.
The Idemitsu E-Axle Fluid series of e-Axle oils currently being developed also includes the E-Axle Fluid Type G-LV for speed reducers; E-Axle Fluid TypeC-MV and E-Axle Fluid TypeC-FE for both motor cooling and gear lubrication; and E-Axle Fluid TypeC-MV for motor material compatibility. Idemitsu Kosan has also introduced the Daphne Hermetic Oil Series, which is compatible with a variety of AC refrigerants and systems.
“Simplifying vehicle constructions is key to optimizing the performance of EVs and HEVs,” the company said. “Using one fluid to cool and lubricate the e-axle, electronics and battery simplifies the cooling system.”
EV charging station manufacturer TurnOnGreen is collaborating with North American Vehicle Services, a national automotive press fleet management service provider, and Page One Automotive, a California-based automotive fleet and event management firm, to install TurnOnGreen EVP1100 Level 2 EV chargers at 14 locations across the US.
Page One maintains a fleet of approximately 500 vehicles and provides event management services in 14 US cities to an array of auto manufacturers.
TurnOnGreen’s EVP1100 Series is a 48-amp/11 kW Level 2 networked charger designed for public charging applications. It features a 5-inch LCD screen and a flexible 16-foot cable, and is suitable for indoor and outdoor installations. The charger is Energy Star-certified, and can function at temperatures between -22° and 122° F. It is wall- and pedestal-mountable and supports multiple authentication methods (web, RFID or TurnOnGreen app).
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with the teams at NAVS and Page One to expand their EV charging infrastructure and bolster their dedication to e-mobility,” said TurnOnGreen President Marcus Charuvastra. “Our growth strategy is heavily focused on delivering tailored fleet management charging solutions to fleets of all sizes across North America.”
Xtracycle made a name for itself years ago as one of the pioneers in long-tail cargo bikes. When it started electrifying those, it piqued our interest and we’ve been eager to get on one ever since. The stars aligned this year, and Xtracycle sent us the RFA to run through the paces. Xtracycle has been […]
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The directors include Elon and Kimbal Musk, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Source: Electric Vehicle News
