Globally, although the number of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles has reached millions, related parts and components still lack common specifications. At present, all parties are working hard to promote the standardized management of vehicle parts and establish cross-market parts standards.
How to expand battery capacity and improve the efficiency of kinetic energy recovery, thereby extending the cruising range of electric vehicles, is a topic of great concern at the moment. In addition, reducing the weight of vehicle components can also help reduce driving resistance (such as rolling resistance, uphill resistance, and acceleration resistance), thereby reducing energy consumption.
Since the end of 2019, Evonik has cooperated with Forward Engineering, LION Smart, Lorenz Kunststofftechnik and Vestaro (a joint venture between Evonik and Forward Engineering) to develop modular multi-material technology, and recently launched a brand compatible , A cost-effective power battery housing solution. Compared with other commonly used material combinations, this solution helps to reduce the weight of the battery case by about 10% without any loss of mechanical properties.
The solution is suitable for batteries of 65 kWh, 85 kWh and 120 kWh, and can be adapted to various vehicle sizes. Among them, the battery case is made of glass fiber (GF) reinforced sheet molding compound (SMC), and Evonik’s VESTALITE®S high-performance epoxy curing agent is used in the production of this material. The performance level of the SMC battery case using the VESTALITE®S system is equivalent to that of the traditional metal-based battery case. At the same time, the weight is greatly reduced compared to the existing SMC battery case with higher cost.
Dr. Leif Ickert, Market Manager of Composites and Adhesives and General Manager of Vestaro, Evonik’s crosslinking agent business line, said: “Battery packs and their casings have become the key to improving the performance, efficiency and cost advantages of electric vehicles. Composite materials have high strength. And the versatility will give more potential to the future power battery system. Win's innovative glass fiber reinforced SMC material can provide electric vehicles with the required performance and economic benefits, and boost the development of electric vehicles."
Glass fiber reinforced epoxy SMC has outstanding mechanical properties such as bending strength and impact strength. Replacing traditional polyester resins with epoxy resins can reduce other problems in the downstream processing of glass fiber reinforced SMC materials. In addition, the SMC material can also meet all fire performance standards, is easy to process, and is suitable for complex geometric designs. At present, this new battery housing solution has passed the feasibility evaluation of mass production and safety testing under extreme conditions.
In addition, the participating Lorenz Kunststofftechnik company has also developed a mature glass fiber reinforced SMC material recycling system that can meet the growing sustainability requirements of the automotive industry and further prove the value of this new material.