Electric vehicle batteries

As governments and public bodies continue to press for cleaner transportation, e-mobility solutions are increasingly in demand. Yet electric vehicle (EV) battery technology still represents a huge design and manufacturing challenge for OEMs and their suppliers. 
 
Batteries are the key component for the efficiency, performance, reliability and daily usability of an electric vehicle. Optimised batteries with effective power yield are the main criteria for both domestic and commercial customer acceptance as they consider whether the vehicle will be viable and cost-effective over the range they need it to operate in.  
 
Electric-vehicle batteries are also critical to the commercial success of EV manufacturers because the material and production costs involved in making the EV battery constitute a large proportion of the vehicle's total cost. Getting the design right while controlling costs is essential to producing a price-competitive end product.  
 
The main challenges in designing and manufacturing EV batteries are striking the balance between high charging capacity, low charge times and long service life against the production cost and the impact of battery size and weight on vehicle performance. 

Material selection plays a key role in the development of battery cell parts, such as the electrodes and the separators, while the production process for these parts must be designed to ensure the purity of the selected materials. Quality inspection must be specified to verify small and delicate parts without damaging them. During design, manufacturers must also consider the thermal performance of the battery system and ensure effective cooling, as well as protect the battery units from damage in the event of an accident, to provide a safe, sustainable, battery-powered mobility solution. 
 
Hexagon’s smart manufacturing technologies provide several solutions for e-mobility providers to optimise and validate battery designs using CAE simulation, ensure robust EV battery manufacturing processes with process simulation and execution tools and verify components and battery systems through non-contact inspection and non-destructive testing techniques.