New Methods in Development and Production of Battery Cells

Project DEFACTO

The DEFACTO project aims to revolutionize cell production for electric vehicles in Europe. Together with the project partners, we are developing a multiphysical and multiscale modeling tool to better understand the material behavior and the manufacturing process of battery cells. This will accelerate the research and innovation processes for cell development, optimize cell design and functionality and significantly increase the competitiveness of European industry.

 

Project Goals at a Glance

  • Ensure maximum accuracy in cell modelling at reasonable computational cost
  • Reduce development time and costs for battery cells
  • Reduce the number of experiments for the optimization of cell design and cell manufacturing
  • Reduce research and development costs for batteries
  • Extend battery life
  • Reduce the environmental impact per battery produced

Battery Cell Production in Europe

Due to the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, the demand for batteries is rising. The basic components of these batteries are electrochemical cells. So far, Asia is the leader in the cell manufacturing market: China, Korea and Japan have the world's largest production capacity. With the aim of strengthening and expanding European cell production, Europe is increasingly focusing on research and development in the field of cell development. In order to promote innovation in this field, the European Commission is funding the DEFACTO project as part of Horizon 2020 with a total budget of around €6 million and a duration of 42 months.
 

Battery Simulation with BEST

In this project, the ITWM is working on the extension of its battery simulation tool "BEST" with which the electrochemical behaviour of the cell can be simulated. We develop and integrate cross-scale mechanical degradation models that describe the influence of the charge-state dependent volume change of the electrodes and the associated aging of the cells. In this context, our expertise in battery simulation with "BEST" is coupled and extended with our efficient software "FeelMath". This forms an important component in the simulation chain that establishes the relationship between production parameters on the one hand and the product properties of the battery on the other.

Project Partners

The consortium of the initiative consists of 13 partners:

  • CIDETEC Energy Storage
  • Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives CEA
  • Centre for Research and Technology Hellas CERTH
  • Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt DLR (German Aerospace Center)
  • Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
  • Technische Universität Braunschweig
  • Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
  • ESI Group
  • Irizar Mobility
  • Sustainable Innovations Europe
  • Leclanché SA
  • Avesta Battery & Energy Engineering ABEE
  • Spanish Association for Standardization UNE