Searching for the best electrification solution for your product?
We can make it happen!
Despite significant advancements in battery cell technology and system integration over the past decade, batteries still represent a major hurdle for electric vehicle adoption. They contribute to over 40% of the manufacturing cost and 25% of the vehicle weight, hindering wider consumer appeal and slowing the pace of decarbonization. Thanks to sustained efforts, the automotive sector has succeeded in introducing fully electric offerings in all market segments. But other mobility sectors like maritime transportation still lag behind due to underdeveloped and bulky battery technology.
Over the past decade, Flanders Make has been on the forefront of battery electric transportation research and has been actively involved in novel battery systems development, testing and validation: we contribute in various ways to the “battery of the future”. Now, with our extensive experience in developing and validating a wide range of electrification solutions (from e-bike to electric ships), we can help you navigate the complexities of electrification. In this article, we present our new, user-friendly battery sizing tool that demonstrates at a glance your cheaper, smaller, and lighter electrification solution in less than 10 seconds.
How much power does your product need, and for how long?
Electric bikes and cars can no longer be ignored on the road. Even for freight transport, electrification has become feasible. However, the energy and power requirements are not comparable to that of the transportation industry's biggest players: shipping. This is mainly due to the cost and weight of the battery. Even smaller boats such as a tug quickly require a capacity comparable to 40 electric cars.
A hybrid battery: No more oversizing
A major challenge in electrification is oversizing batteries to handle both peak power demands (e.g., fast charging, maneuvering) and long-term energy needs (e.g., maintain cruising speed). Traditional systems use just one cell technology, forcing a choice between high energy density (High Energy) batteries that can store large amounts of energy or high power density (High Power) batteries that can quickly release large amounts of energy. The solution is a hybrid approach, combining both High Energy and High Power cells. This achieves the optimal balance between performance and size, significantly reducing overall cost and weight.
The result of the calculation will show at a glance how the hybrid arrangement is the most optimal for many applications. This arrangement ensures that all the energy from the battery pack is used. This is in contrast to a mono-type arrangement where energy remains unused. Both packs are shown side by side to illustrate the huge gains. In the example below, simulating a small tugboat, the hybrid solution delivers cost and weight savings of 20% and more.
Screenshot below or view online.
A customized calculation
Important constraints and parameters are taken into account
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Optimal charging percentage: to optimize battery life, the system will only charge to a maximum of 90% and discharge to 10%.
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Desired lifetime: On average, this will be 10 years, but the ageing of different types of battery cells is a complex parameter. This is a crucial parameter and our tool makes an accurate calculation based on empirical data.
Are you a battery professional? Our battery sizing tool also allows you to impose more constraints.
Applicability
This tool is widely applicable: the simulation is useful not only for potential e-ships, but also for many other industries, from home batteries to aviation.
In addition, by staying at the forefront of battery energy storage research, our battery sizing tool will be continuously maintained and updated (with new features and emerging battery technologies).
