Recently, the newly opened Airbus China Innovation Center (ACIC) battery laboratory in China is looking for new technologies to power a new generation of electric vehicles.
Asia is the center of global battery R & D and production, and Japan and South Korea are global leaders. However, China is also accelerating its development to catch up with the traditional powers. Moreover, China has the ability to become a battery superpower. It is expected that by 2021, China's electric vehicle battery production will account for 70% of the global total.
This is why Airbus chose to set up a new battery laboratory at the Airbus China Innovation Center (Shenzhen). The laboratory opened in August 2019. It will not only use the rich ecosystem of Shenzhen (China's technology center), but also the ecosystems of China and Asia to test batteries used in a wide range of fields such as electric propulsion systems and electrical systems.
Although battery research and development has achieved impressive results in recent decades, it still has great research and development potential, including the development of new materials and chemical combinations. In addition to conducting battery safety and durability tests, the ACIC Battery Lab will also strive to find solutions to long-standing battery problems.
One of the problems is thermal runaway. Thermal runaway is an unstoppable chain reaction in the battery, which will cause the battery to overheat quickly and cause a fire. Although this is rare, it can happen on computers or mobile phones. In 2016, millions of electronic devices were recalled due to battery overheating and explosion. Although lithium-ion batteries are considered to be the most effective rechargeable batteries at present, the recall also reminds people that such batteries are not without safety hazards, which also limits their application in the aviation field.
In order to develop new battery solutions that can be used in the field of commercial aviation, the ACIC team will work with local partners in Shenzhen, such as BYD, one of the world's largest manufacturers of electric vehicles and batteries. The team will also work closely with Airbus Battery CoC, which is dedicated to developing new battery solutions for aerospace applications.
If the aviation industry is to promote the development of flight electrification, it is essential to improve the safety and performance of batteries. Specifically, the success of urban air travel and future hybrid aircraft depends on the development of high-performance and safe battery technology. This is also the core focus of the ACIC battery laboratory, which is dedicated to the development of batteries for electric propulsion systems, which is a prerequisite for powering new aircraft.
The ACIC Battery Lab will also study how to safely replace nickel-cadmium batteries with advanced lithium-ion batteries to power aircraft systems without limiting the weight of the case. As the laboratory rapidly expands its scope of work, it may further explore other areas.