Enable Mass Production Of Li-ion Batteries In Germany

2023 Author : Hannah Pearcy | [email protected] . Last modified: 2023-06-01 01:49

The demand for electric vehicles is increasing - the federal government wants to increase the stock to ten million electric vehicles by 2030 - and with it the demand for batteries . Asian competitors have so far dominated production here because they have been investing heavily in expanding their mass production for years. In Germany, on the other hand, production has so far hardly gone beyond the status of pilot plants and small series production. One problem here is the high level of investment required to set up mass production , especially if the products are not yet suitable for series production.

Optimized lithium-ion cells for mass production

The project "Development, construction and validation of advanced material, cell and production systems for a cost-efficient, sustainable and large-scale battery cell production" - "Zellkobatt" for short - should help to solve this problem, thus significantly more movement in the construction of production capacities coming in Germany. The project is supported by researchers from the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW).

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In the project launched in March 2020, the researchers want to optimize large-format lithium-ion cells for automotive applications and at the same time reduce the costs of components and manufacturing processes. The results are to be transferred to the near-series ZSW research production line, which has been in operation since 2014, and are to be brought to a scale suitable for the masses. This should drive the way to mass production in Germany.

Digitization of cell production

In the project, the ZSW researchers are striving to significantly improve lithium-ion cells compared to the current state of the art. "For this purpose, the many years of process and production engineering know-how is to be expanded to include large-format pouch and PHEV-2 cells up to 80 ampere-hours as well as round cells of the type 21700", explains Dr. Wolfgang Braunwarth, head of the production research department at the ZSW.

In addition, the ZSW wants to expand the possibilities of digitizing cell production: Via a cloud-based data interface, data can be used for further research purposes, for example for modeling and simulation of production or for intelligent process control through machine learning and transferred to external partners. This means that in future it will be possible to react faster to both industrial requirements and new research findings.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the project with 12.7 million euros over three years.