Unlocking Potential: Designing Better Batteries with The Voltt
About:Energy and Porsche use physics-informed data to unlock more battery performance.
About:Energy offers a hardware and software solution that allows its customers to accelerate the transition to electrification.
Challenge
The project addressed the challenges of battery development, which is often expensive, time-consuming, and poses significant risks. By collaborating on this project, the objective was to develop new physics-informed simulation technologies that would enhance the battery value chain. The scope of the joint project involved creating a model of a battery used in a Porsche vehicle, focusing on use cases such as improved cell design, fast charging, and pack performance. Both Porsche and About:Energy recognized the need for a comprehensive solution that would streamline decision-making, reduce investment risks, and optimize battery performance throughout the value chain.
Solution
To tackle these challenges, About:Energy deployed bespoke hardware to better characterize thermal and electrochemical performance of EV batteries. The Porsche battery management team collaborated closely on the project. A major barrier was commercializing world-leading UK research from Imperial College London into a viable project. By leveraging The Voltt software platform, the startup provided accurate cell and system models, control algorithms, and access to an extensive battery library. This enabled them to navigate challenges and create a robust solution addressing key pain points in battery development.
Impact
The project’s outcome was to integrate data and models within The Voltt platform, enabling engineering teams to streamline their development timeline. The expected impact is providing deeper physical insights into battery performance, leading to better, sustainable battery products. This provides a path to achieve the expected impacts of cost reduction and increased efficiency.
Future plans include expanding The Voltt to cover more commercial batteries for diverse applications, catering to more customers. The Voltt’s successful launch now provides data for numerous commercial cells, accelerating battery product development across industries and showcasing commercialization potential.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Dominik Geringer (Porsche — Development Engineer HV-Battery Simulation) as well as Gavin White and Kieran O’Regan (CEO and COO at About:Energy).
Contact for the project
Roberto Sampietro, Ventures Mobility
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