Producing a high-performance and safe battery pack solution has traditionally been expensive and time-consuming for many automotive companies. Fully customised designs are often unaffordable, while existing off-the-shelf battery pack solutions suffer from low energy density and poor optimisation. This is particularly true for lower volume niche automotive manufacturers with unique requirements.
Ionetic has tried to overcome these problems by offering an efficient blend of cost and customisation to help accelerate battery pack development like never before. The company claims that its state of the art software-based platform can boost energy density by 30 percent and increase utilisation of pack volume by up to 120 percent, compared to existing off-the-shelf solutions.
It can also produce a battery pack design in days and reduce the costs of getting from requirements to mass manufacture by over 90 percent for automotive OEMs. This is due to the platform’s ability to automatically generate designs according to a series of fully adjustable parameters, while offering a vertically integrated solution to battery pack production, which includes homologation and mass manufacture.
Ionetic is planning to open its first UK-based battery manufacturing facility next year, which will enable it to begin pilot production of its own battery pack designs. This will make Ionetic the only UK-based battery pack developer to offer an end-to-end, in-house battery solution, from conceptualisation and prototyping through to homologation and production.
“There are many stages needed to get a battery pack into production” said James Eaton, CEO and Co-Founder of Ionetic. “Automotive companies need to consider requirements, system design, homologation, embedded control, manufacturing options, and vehicle integration, to name a few. These stages are often done by different companies, which can lead to a costly, fragmented process. At Ionetic we facilitate all these stages, simplifying the process and reducing the cost for EV OEMs. We’re currently focusing on niche automotive companies in the UK and Europe. They typically make less than 10,000 vehicles per year, so probably don’t meet the minimum order quantities of large global battery pack suppliers, or can’t meet their high design fees. These niche vehicle-makers are the unsung heroes that keep society functioning. Trucks, buses, construction vehicles, service vehicles and emergency vehicles all need to electrify in the next decade. We’re also in talks with iconic car brands and sports car manufacturers. Gigafactories are mainly catering for mass-produced, cars. There’s a risk that some of these niche, historic car brands might not survive electrification unless companies such as Ionetic address their specific needs.”
Dr. Monica Marinescu, Co-Founder of Ionetic and Senior Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, added that the EV battery sector is set to grow 15-30 percent annually for the next 10 years and so there is a huge opportunity for an agile start-up such as Ionetic.
“At a time when competition in this space is stronger than ever, it is crucial automotive companies pursue battery technologies that provide a balance between performance, cost reduction and resource optimisation” said Dr Marinescu. “Our battery solution is the product of a diverse team of battery scientists, educated and trained at Imperial College, one of the world's leading universities. We leverage the latest, state-of-the-art technologies to help businesses transition to electric mobility.”
For additional information:
