EV Magazine June 2023 | Page 65

point — ensuring they adhere to a circular economy . For cars to really be sustainable , batteries must come full cycle in such events or at the end-of-life .

“ There ’ s certainly a lot of talk about reusing them and connecting them to the electricity grid ,” says McKeen . “ I certainly believe that we ’ ll see batteries recycled . We recycle more than 90 % of aluminium from a vehicle , more than 98 % of iron , and I think the same is going to be true of the metals used in batteries .”

THERMAL AND CHARGING INNOVATIONS FOR DC CHARGER COMPATIBILITY

One of the key elements of battery composition that enables much-desired DC fast charging capabilities is thermal management .

“ A lot of the batteries on the market today will charge up to 150 kilowatt hours and are headed towards 250 or 350 . That ’ s really enabled by the architecture of the cell , but also thermal management in the battery ,” says McKeen .

McKeen . “ You can ’ t do just one . You really need to bring them all together in concert to optimise for performance , cost , and to make the right material choices .”

As seen in recent trends , authorities struggle to deem some EVs as repairable , which is driving the need to make battery packs in such a way that allows them to be dismantled for two reasons . The first is to avoid vehicle write-offs as EVs are known to be redundant in the event of battery damage , and secondly — following this

As the demand for faster charging grows , the underlying factor in ensuring EVs can power up safely – and , in fact , whether it works at all – is a result of developing battery thermal architecture , which begins at the charger cable and ends with the battery pack itself .

“ We ' re working on materials that have higher thermal conductivity so we can transfer more heat quickly . There ' s a number of different ways to remove heat from the cells themselves , so we also work on materials that would enable a different type of coolant architecture .”

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