ALUMINUM BATTERY BOX INSTALL

In some models, the battery casings are as large as the entire car floor. Large casings can affect the entire body architecture. Extrusions also allow better energy absorption in case of an accident, compared to other materials and processes. Good battery enclosure design uses aluminium extrusions to simplify the assembly process and fastening of the individual battery modules. The battery casing produced by Novelis Examples of design and construction techniques for battery containers The combination of these requirements makes aluminium the ideal material for this use, due to its well-known capability as a fast thermal energy conductor. Thermal management and control of battery packs can be achieved through air or liquid systems for insulation or thermal storage with active or passive approaches or a combination of both. To control the temperature of a battery pack in the optimum temperature range, the heat from the modules must be reduced during the hot season and increased during the cold season.

ALUMINUM BATTERY BOX INSTALL

The thermal management system must be compact and light, easy to install in the vehicle, reliable and economical. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are generally more demanding than battery electric vehicles because they generate more heat, which is why they must have a thermal management system. At the same time, the material must have sufficient mechanical and impact resistance to protect the battery modules from damage, as well as other parts of a vehicle. Therefore, the construction structure can significantly affect the performance and life cycle of battery modules, as variations in temperature from module to module in a battery pack could lead to a reduction in performance. Thermal conductivity is of paramount importance for battery casings, because they must provide thermal transfer capacity (as in the braking system of a car) to keep the battery cool or keep it warm when it is cold. Scheme of the battery pack of an electric vehicle The properties which battery containers must possess Car manufacturers expect the cost of the battery system, which now accounts for between 30 and 50% of the total cost of an electric car, to fall in the future. While many housings are currently made of steel (or a combination of aluminium and steel), in the long run aluminium seems to have the upper hand, mainly due to its light weight and favourable technical characteristics. Just like other car parts, battery cases provide a field for a range of materials that compete for supremacy: aluminium, high-strength steel, carbon fibre and magnesium. Of course, they are available in various shapes and sizes and can be easily adapted to the different characteristics of battery modules. Let us therefore take a closer look at the batteries and their housing.įigure 4: Forecast of average aluminium content per car and by forming process in 2025 (source: author’s processing of DuckerFrontier and European Aluminium data) Aluminium in electric carsīattery cases for electric vehicles (also called battery frames, housings or battery packs) have a rather simple purpose: to hold and protect the battery modules. Foundry castings should reduce their percentage share, precisely because of the introduction of electric motors, which use less metal than traditional fuel-driven engine blocks. The development of electric cars, which use a greater quantity of light metal, will make it possible to increase the average use of aluminium per car, as shown in the forecast in Figure 4.įrom these predictive data the increase in the use of extrusions and laminates can be immediately seen, with substantial stability for forgings. As can be seen, foundry castings (especially engine components and alloy wheel rims) are the most widely used format, with about 116 kg per car and a total of almost 2,000 kt produced in the EU in 2019. The data, processed by analysing a large number of models currently in production, show the average values of aluminium content per car subdivided into four main categories of use: rolling, extrusions, casting and forging. Figure 3: Average aluminium content per car and by forming process in 2019 (source: author’s processing of DuckerFrontier and European Aluminium data)Īt present, the content of the various aluminium products used in the different car segments worldwide is summarised in figure 2, taken from a DuckerFrontier study published at the end of 2019.

Aluminum battery box