German engineering firm AZL is joining with an international consortium of automotive suppliers to develop a multi-material battery casing. The 8-month product development will start with an international market analysis and a concept study in which different multi-material component concepts and production scenarios will be developed and evaluated with regard to their costs. Finally, a multi-material battery casing will be designed, then manufactured as a prototype in a follow-up project.
“Battery casings are key components in EVs. The requirements are challenging, and very individual for different vehicle classes,” said Audi Project Manager Dr. Florian Meyer. “We are looking forward to the creative exchange with the cross-value chain and cross-material class consortium to find out how we can save weight and costs by using plastic-based multi-material solutions, versus status quo solutions made of metals.”
AZL will draw up a market overview with the industrial consortium that includes existing series components and concepts, and identifies the relevant manufacturers, users, suppliers and supply chains on the market. Standards and requirements for battery casings will be derived from the existing components, and the advantages of multi-material approaches will be evaluated. On the basis of detailed datasheets, various product concepts will be worked out and associated production scenarios for multi-material battery casings will be established. The participants can select component concepts for which CAD models, FEM analyses and process chains are developed and finally evaluated with regard to their production costs.
The project will kick off on October 22 via video conference. Interested companies can find further information on AZL’s web site.
Source: AZL