An 8.4-million-euro ($11-million) European research project called Batteries2020 aims to increase the lifespan and energy density of large-format automotive Li-ion batteries.

The project is scheduled to run through September 2016, by which time the group’s goal is to have a commercialization-ready product that achieves a 4,000-cycle lifetime at 80% depth of discharge, and an energy density of 250 Wh/kg.

IKERLAN, a non-profit research center located in the Basque region of Spain, is coordinating the project, and partners include firms from Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark and Belgium that have a wide range of expertise in materials development and battery production.

The team plans to improve cathode materials based on nickel/manganese/cobalt (NMC) oxides, as it believes that these materials have a good chance to be up-scaled and commercialized in the near term. It will start with existing state-of-the-art cells, and develop two improved generations of NMC materials, with the goal of improving performance, stability and cycleability.

The project will study aging phenomena and degradation processes, and will also evaluate the potential of reusing and recycling batteries.

Source: Green Car Congress