Lithium Sulfur: Future Automotive Battery (LiS:FAB)

he Lithium Sulfur: Future Automotive Battery (LiS:FAB) project will develop a next generation cell and module that is suitable for large electric vehicles such as trucks and buses. It will deliver a 400 Wh/kg Li-S cell that has the significantly improved power and cycle life required by large automotive applications. This cell will allow buses and trucks to carry significantly more payload and due to the abundant cell construction materials, cost less. The module cell and module state of health and charge (SoH & SoC) will be improved, along with the manufacturability. The project is split into 4 work packages:

Cell Performance

By building on past projects that increased cell specific energy (Wh/kg), further improvements will be made to cycle life, power and cell design to meet the performance and safety needs of EVs. OXIS, UCL and William Blythe will utilise new materials to improve performance and characterise electrodes and cells using X-ray tomography and other techniques to accelerate development. WAE will advise on cell design.

Cell Characterisation

Extensive testing of cells will be carried out to inform development. This will include rigorous safety tests, rapid test protocols/formation studies, degradation/abuse analysis. Software tools will also be further developed from the REVB project to allow analysis of large amounts of test data.

Cell Manufacturability

BPE will lead the design of a pilot facility for the cells that are developed on this project. OXIS and Ceetak will develop critical pouch cell sealing technology required to make a robust automotive cell. OXIS and UCL will develop a novel, non-invasive X-Ray quality control process for cells.

Module Development

OXIS and Cranfield will build on the control algorithms developed on the earlier REVB project to better predict SoC and SoH and to create intelligent charging algorithms to improve lifetime. Cell matching and module construction techniques will be investigated and a final module will be demonstrated.

The LiS:FAB project will deliver multiple improvements for EVs and the technology developed will be applicable to wider markets such as aerospace, space and energy storage.