Developing a battery chemistry is always an exercise that requires making concessions. There isn’t a battery chemistry that is the best in every field, to have a well balanced battery we have to make compromises regarding energy density, power density, safety, cycle life and cost. In this long article we’ll see where the battery technology is going with the focus on the development of NCM cathodes. I’ll leave anodes and electrolytes to another time.

The NIO ES6 is an all-electric SUV for the Chinese market that has a 84 kWh battery pack made with NCM 811 battery cells from CATL. NIO has announced that deliveries to customers are underway. Let’s see the press release. Shanghai, China – June 18, 2019 – Today, NIO officially began delivery of the 5-seater high-performance, long-range, electric SUV, NIO ES6, to its users. NIO ES6 Premier Edition vehicles were delivered to users in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Hyundai Motor just deleted a press release where it informed that the new model year Hyundai Kona Electric is going to get a 11 kW on-charger in Europe. Fortunately Stefan Kopeinig saved a screenshot with the important information from the deleted press release. Besides the new 3-phase 11 kW on-board charger, the new Hyundai Kona Electric also gets the new Hyundai Blue Link app, optional new centre display touch-screen and heated rear seats.

Now that Nissan’s battery business was finally sold to Envision, we can expect faster development of AESC battery cells under Chinese ownership. The first obvious step is to introduce NCM 811 battery cells next year. The new Gen5 (NCM 811) battery cell’s dimensions and tabs disposition are quite different from the old generation, this shows that they aren’t meant to be a direct replacement. The new more energy dense cell require a different pack arrangement and the introduction of a good liquid-cooling TMS (Thermal Management System). The new Gen5 cell also look more appropriate for a “skateboard” battery pack layout.

Last year I wrote an article about CATL’s goal of introducing NCM 811 battery cells in 2019, but unfortunately the company wasn’t ready to make that information public and I had to make that article private just a few hours after releasing it. However, it’s now public, CATL has just announced that it has created a battery cell sample with an energy density of 304 Wh/kg, which represents a major improvement from NCM 523 battery cells that have been used by CATL since 2017.

Just before this year’s Geneva International Motor Show, PEUGEOT e-208 has its official specs announced. The PEUGEOT e-208 and its cousin Opel e-Corsa are just two of several much-awaited electric superminis coming to Europe this year. They’ll be direct alternatives to other electric superminis such as Renault ZOE 2.0 and Volkswagen ID 3 (Neo). Let’s see the highlights: 100 kW (136 bhp) electric motor developing 260 Nm of torque 0 to 100 km/h in 8,1 seconds in Sport Mode 50 kWh battery is guaranteed for 8 years or 160.000 km (100.000 miles) for 70 % of its charge capacity The battery is linked to the passenger compartment cooling system, fluid-cooled temperature control enables fast recharging, optimised range and increased life-span 340 km (211 miles) range in WLTP and 450 km (280 miles) in NEDC 11 kW 3-phase on-board charger 100 kW fast charging via CCS allows to charge the battery from 0 to 80 % in 30 minutes Heat pump Heated seats (according to version) Configurable head-up display Capacitive 7” or 10" HD colour touchscreen 3D digital instrument panel MyPeugeot app Full LED 3-claw headlight signature (according to version) “Interior and boot-space are identical to the ICE version. The batteries, which take up a volume of 220L, are distributed under the floor pan in new PEUGEOT 208.”

While not officially confirmed, it seems that the Renault ZOE ZE 40 battery pack is made with 192 LG Chem LGX E63 cells. Now, thanks to a leaked document we have access to the complete specs of these NCM 622 battery cells. Let’s take a closer look at the LG Chem LGX E63 battery cell. Nominal Capacity: 65,6 Ah (discharged at 21,6 A) - 64,8 Ah (discharged at 32,5 A) Minimum Capacity: 64,6 Ah (discharged at 21,6 A) - 63,8 Ah (discharged at 32,5 A) Nominal Voltage: 3,6 V Charging Voltage: 4,2 V Thickness: 11,5 mm Width: 125 mm Height: 325 mm Volume: 0,4671875 L Weight: 964,9 g Volumetric Energy Density: 492-505 Wh/L Gravimetric Energy Density: 238-245 Wh/kg Renault ZE 40 battery pack (192 cells in 96s2p configuration)

Less than 2 years ago, LION Smart showed us a BMW i3 with a 55 kWh battery, now it gets upgraded to 100 kWh with 700 km of range. Made with a total of 8.064 cylindrical battery cells (18650 format) the battery pack has a maximum voltage of 400 V and a capacity of 101 kWh (see the video). At the pack level the battery has a very impressive volumetric energy density of 460 Wh/L and a gravimetric energy density of 230 Wh/kg, this is very similar to what the Nissan Leaf 40 kWh battery achieves at the cell level.

The low-cobalt content and high energy density NCM 811 battery cells for electric cars were expected to be introduced this year by the South Korean battery cell makers LG Chem and SK Innovation. Unfortunately, a few months after the initial announcements these plans were postponed. Now the Chinese battery cell makers will try to introduce the NCM 811 cathode technology first to gain competitive advantage. Not only BYD is aiming to introduce the NCM 811 battery cells for EVs next year, CATL has also the same goal.

The staff of coches.net and AUTOBEST tested the range and efficiency of 10 different electric cars. On the first day the cars were tested by the staff of the coches.net (test 1) and on the second day the cars were tested by the AUTOBEST’s staff (test 2). All electric cars were driven until stop from empty battery. The tests were conducted around Barcelona in highway and city traffic. All electric cars were set to normal mode (no eco or sport modes) and with AC on (set to 19-23 ºC). The outside temperature varied between 26 and 33 ºC, perfect to get high mileage.

LG Chem offers complete and easy solutions for automakers that want to electrify their cars. The company not only produces batteries for electric cars, but also motors, inverters and now on-board chargers. In Europe, 3-phase on-board chargers will soon become standard and LG Chem acknowledges it by making the 11 kW variant available from the start. While it’s a shame that a compact 22 kW variant isn’t already available, there’s always the possibility of using two 11 kW chargers in parallel to reach 22 kW.

Samsung SDI was present at Energy Storage Europe 2018, Germany’s ESS Exhibition and revealed a new high-capacity battery cell. The 111Ah ESS battery cell showcased by Samsung SDI at the conference has the feature of substantially increased capacity. The capacity of this ESS battery is enhanced while the size is maintained through material innovation, and thus significantly increased the energy density of the battery. Moreover, the strength of this battery is that it allows an easy product upgrade without having to modify its design.