Hx LIFE Foils manufacturing scale up for next generation automotive EV batteries

Meeting the increasing need of electrification for the automotive industry by the government timescales will require an increase in the safety, reliability, cost effectiveness and cyclability of EV batteries.

At Reaction Engines we have developed an innovative technology that enables the passive thermal management of battery cells. The technology, called Hx LIFE Foils, is a very high thermal conductivity material that inserts itself between the cells to cool them and can be shaped and sized for most pouch, prismatic and cylindrical cells. We have demonstrated on test the following attributes:

* Safety: Improve containment of thermal runaway
* Low mass for high specific power and energy
* High rate of heat extraction: superior heat extraction to most active cooling systems

Deploying the Foils in the next generation automotive batteries will significantly improve the safety and performance of automotive EV's as well as simplifying the design and architecture of the modules and packs.

Hx Life Foils have been designed to be made in very high volume at low cost to meet the demand for automotive battery packs. Previous work with the MTC has highlighted improvements in the process to reduce risks and costs. The project therefore consists in optimising the building blocks of the process and initiating a first scale up to low-medium scale production by building a pilot line that will allow production of the Foils in the 10000 units per year whilst also achieving MRL6-7\. This will allow supporting the production for prototypes and develop the learning for the next scaling up that will target high volume production (\>1M Foils per year).

The consortium will be led by Reaction Engines, as the developer and manufacturer of the Foils and will include the Manufacturing technology Centre (MTC) as partner.

The programme will start on 1st September 2022 and complete by end of December 2023\.