As part of its mission to help unlock sustainable mobility, BATTECH, a project led by the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC) and the Eurecat technology centre, took part in The Battery Show Europe. The event, held last week at Messe Stuttgart in Germany, is the leading battery trade fair in Europe and provided a platform for BATTECH to showcase its recent battery research and innovation developments.
As the preeminent centre in southern Europe, BATTECH covers all battery value chain R&D and innovation including the materials making up the cells as key parts of the batteries, their integration in large batteries for electric mobility and also as energy systems, factoring in their second life and final recycling. The main purpose of BATTECH’s projects is to improve energy density, efficiency, durability and safety while cutting battery costs in a sustainability and circular economy approach.
At The Battery Show Europe, an event which gathered more than 700 exhibitors and featured an outstanding programme with around a hundred expert speakers, the BATTECH team had the chance to share ideas and developments with the international battery and electric mobility community. Over the three days of the fair, more than a hundred people interested in the projects BATTECH is undertaking and its research, innovation and transfer activities and capabilities in this field visited its booth.
This leading European trade fair also enabled BATTECH to unveil its most recent breakthroughs in research and development of technologies which are being rolled out in the various projects the IREC and Eurecat are involved in.
The flagship European projects currently led by BATTECH are the COBRA project (coordinated by the IREC with an €11.8 million budget), which is developing new cobalt-free lithium-ion cell chemistries, and the MARBEL project (coordinated by Eurecat with an €11.7 million budget), engaged in engineering the new generation of high energy density, modular, weight-optimised battery packs with shorter charging times, greater durability and a design geared towards easier disassembly for a second life and simpler recycling of all their components, some of which come from recycled materials. Other projects in which BATTECH is playing an active role are Free4Lib, XL Connect, Intelligent, Advagen and Spinmate.
“As a project committed to addressing the major challenges of electricity storage, BATTECH is investing significant resources and knowhow in research, development and technology transfer to drive the battery industry ecosystem,” says technology lead Carles Rubio.
The team “is working with state-of-the-art technologies for new generations of lithium-ion and sodium-ion, solid-state batteries, exploring new materials and upgrading manufacturing processes to achieve better performance and longer battery life while always seeking to be more environmentally friendly,” adds Jordi Jacas, a materials and battery researcher.
Moreover, BATTECH “is not only spearheading innovation in new battery materials but also helping to fashion a robust and resilient ecosystem for the electric mobility and energy sector,” notes Agustí Chico, BATTECH’s chief technology officer. This holistic approach “includes developing, manufacturing and testing new generation battery packs which are much more efficient and sustainable coupled with training highly qualified professionals in this field.”
At the fair, BATTECH “has unveiled some of its most recent developments, including significant advances in improving energy storage capacity and in fast charging and battery safety,” points out Agustí Chico. These innovations “have the potential to dramatically change today’s electric mobility landscape by delivering more efficient, longer-lasting, safer and more sustainable battery solutions.”
Backed by industry and the scientific community, BATTECH “is steadfast in its mission to improve the battery technology of today and tomorrow,” says Carles Rubio. Its participation in The Battery Show Europe “symbolises its commitment to the industry and its determination to continue pushing electric mobility and renewable energy storage to new frontiers of innovation and sustainability.”
