Battery pack manufacturer Akasol has presented its third generation of battery systems intended for series production. The AKASystem 9 AKM 150 CYC is said to have the highest energy density available on the market, making it especially suitable for fully electric, long-distance applications such as coaches or trucks. It has a nominal energy of just under 100kWh, which can be scaled as required for different applications when manufacturing begins at the company’s Gigafactory 1 in Darmstadt, Germany, from 2023.
“With our third-generation battery system, we are once again underlining our technological leadership. The high gravimetric energy density in the same space as the predecessor system leads to significant efficiency improvements and an increased range. At the same time, it is a particularly cost-efficient battery system that offers flexible scaling options depending on the area of application,” said Sven Schulz, CEO of Akasol.
With a nominal energy of 98kWh and a continuous charge rate up to 1C, a service life of up to 4,000 charging cycles is achieved. The company states that active liquid cooling with a water-glycol mixture and the good thermal insulation of the battery system make it possible to operate the cells in their ideal temperature range, achieving improved performance with less ageing.
The system design also includes multiple safety features, such as two separate CPU cores to increase fail-safety, the system also has IP67 and IP6K9K protection classes, high fire protection and is developed according to the industry standard ISO 26262.
By using battery cells in the 21700-standard format, Akasol notes that it will benefit from the further development of this cell type which is independent of the battery system. This also benefits future products, meaning energy density can be continuously increased in the coming years without adapting the system architecture. In addition to the increase in efficiency and cost savings, the use of standard cells also enables a high availability of battery cells through various manufacturers with global production facilities.
