The Power-Up project will establish the feasibility of manufacturing AMTE's Ultra Power (UP) cells in the UK, in volume. The UP cell has high energy density for a power cell, with excellent heat rejection capability using tab cooling, preventing cell overheating during continuous aggressive cycling or fast charging, and extending lifetime, in an automotive format that is ready for production by UKBIC by the end of the project.
Imperial's Electrochemical Science & Engineering group has a long-term strategy to change the way that the lithium-ion battery industry designs their cells, in particular, to take a holistic approach to performance and particularly the interaction between the cells and the thermal management at the system level. Their research over the last few years has demonstrated significant opportunities for improvement in both useable energy, lifetime and cost, building a substantial evidence base to justify a new approach to cell design. They have already demonstrated the concept through a Faraday Institution funded sprint project, TOPBAT, with AMTE Power. By working with UK partners, they want to help create a new generation of best-in-class cells with unique selling points that will help create a thriving and profitable UK cell manufacturing industry. They will also engage with UK customers for these cells and provide them with a head start so they can design products taking advantage of their superior characteristics, these cells will therefore provide UK engineering companies with a significant competitive advantage.
UKBIC has the ambition to provide power pouch cell technology for its customer base. UKBIC is currently commissioning its facility with an in-house cylindrical 21700 cell and a VDA-standard 300x100x10 (mm) pouch cell based on electrodes designed for high-energy-density. Typical charge/discharge rates for this technology peak around 1C rates, many customer applications require charge/discharge rates much higher than this for high-power applications (\>15C). Thinly coated electrodes and good cell design thermal optimisation are required for high power cells. High power cells require innovative use and adaption of electrode coating equipment to allow thin coating at rate to the required reproducibility and tolerances to ensure optimised performance and retain cycle life. Sealing thicker cell tabs into conventional cell sealing equipment will also require an innovative approach to pouch cell manufacture.