ECCOMAS 2024

Optimizing Halide Solid-State Batteries to Meet Automotive and Aeronautic Standards

  • van Steenis, Tibor (Pipistrel Vertical Solutions)
  • Sudharshan, Akshayan (Pipistrel Vertical Solutions)

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Halide solid state batteries for Electric vEhicles aNd Aircraft, abbreviated as HELENA, is an EU funded project that aims to develop safe, novel high energy efficiency and power density solid state batteries (Gen 4b), based on high-capacity Ni-rich cathode (NMC), high-energy Li metal (LiM) anode and Li-ion superionic halide solid electrolyte for application in electric vehicles and, especially in aircrafts. Moreover, HELENA will pave the way to cost effective battery packs, which will enable safe and scalable battery manufacturing. In this work, we represent the automotive and aeronautic cell/module/pack requirements, including – in order of priority – Safety, Sustainability and performance. While the trendlines for future batteries are well studied for automotive applications, the aerospace sector contains a wide range of uncertainties, specifically in the hybrid electric configuration. Several different vehicles have been taken in account for determining the battery requirements. These requirements have been carefully selected based on the expected mission profile for each specific vehicle. These vehicles include: Fully electric aircraft based on the Pipistrel Velis Electro, and three hybrid electric aircraft: a fixed wing, VTOL unmanned drone and helicopter. In summary, the outcome of this report is a comprehensive set of specifications delineating the essential requirements for the battery cell designed specifically for automotive and aeronautic applications.