Battery cells for science researches
How business and science can drive forward mobility geared to sustainability has now been demonstrated by the Technology Transfer Center for Electro Mobility (TTZ-EMO) Bad Neustadt, Germany, and our PIA site there. Managing Director Markus Welsch (pictured right) handed over around 6,000 lithium-ion cells to the Würzburg-Schweinfurt University of Applied Sciences facility, which will now be used in research into electric drive concepts.
The batteries originate from tests for an assembly line to produce batteries for electrically powered commercial vehicles. PIA's expert team had developed the line for an international customer in recent months and carried out extensive tests at the Bad Neustadt site. The customer provided batteries for electric commercial vehicles, such as hybrid trucks. Several such assembly lines are now being set up at PIA in the USA - the remaining batteries from the tests have a total value of 25,000 euros.
"With this project, we are not only making an important contribution to the expansion of e-mobility in North America, but also here locally. We are very pleased that the batteries will find another use in Bad Neustadt - and that we will also be able to support the city and the region on their way to more sustainable mobility," said Markus Welsch, Managing Director Bad Neustadt, when the battery cells were handed over this week. Bad Neustadt is the first Bavarian model city for electromobility, and the Technology Transfer Center accompanies numerous projects as a scientific institute.
The students conduct research on various topics related to electric drive technologies - and PIA Automation attaches great importance to short distances between industry and science. When handing over the battery cells, Markus Welsch and Andreas Ziegler, Research Group Leader Battery Systems at the Electromobility Technology Transfer Center, therefore already made plans for future cooperations: “Transfering knowledge between the Technology Transfer Center and companies in the region helps to accelerate that new technologies are ready for the market as quickly as possible and can then also be used in and around Bad Neustadt," says Markus Welsch. "The fact that we can promote young scientists in the region at the same time makes us all the more pleased."
At PIA Automation in Bad Neustadt, various solutions are created for the production of core components of electric drives. These include, for example, assembly lines for so-called onboard chargers - charging devices that convert the alternating current from charging stations into direct current so that it can be stored in the vehicle battery
"The 6,000 lithium-ion batteries are perfect for our research," says Andreas Ziegler, research group leader for battery systems at the Electromobility Technology Transfer Center. "We use the batteries to analyze parameter variations and temperature behavior through long-term measurements, for example. This allows us to gain important insights into aging processes and service life. Likewise, we keep building different battery prototypes, for which a large number of cells are needed."