Periodic Reporting for period 3 - LIBERTY (LIghtweight Battery System for Extended Range at Improved SafeTY)
Reporting period: 2023-07-01 to 2024-12-31
Imagine that you drive your electric vehicle from San-Sebastian to Barcelona, from Stuttgart to Brussels or from Eindhoven to Paris without the need of recharging along the way. Then have it quickly charged again without fear of eating into the battery’s remaining life.
At present this could cause some issues – that’s where LIBERTY steps in:
Design an electric vehicle battery that offers 500 km of range before ultra-fast recharging in just 18 minutes – and all this combined with a battery life expectancy in excess of 300.000 km.
These are only some of the challenges that the European project LIBERTY, led by the Basque technology centre IKERLAN, will address along with 15 additional European partners ranging from Universities providing fundamental research, leading technology giants, TIER suppliers, up through the OEM level. Mercedes-Benz AG, one of the partners of this strategic Horizon 2020 EU project for sustainable mobility, will integrate the batteries developed by LIBERTY in one of its electric vehicles in order to demonstrate the technological feasibility of all LIBERTY innovations.
By the end of the project, the main achievements truly speak for themselves, and is illustrated by the following KPIs that were successfully achieved:
• Battery system capacity: 88.34 kWh (+10%)
• Battery system weight (based on 80 kWh capacity): 560 kg (-15%)
• Gross Vehicle weight (based on 80 kWh capacity): 2335 kg (-3%)
• Max. charging power: 350 kW (+220%)
• Charging window (10-80% SoC): 18 min (-55%)
• Range (WLTP): 470 km (+13%)
• Range (80-10% SoC): 329 km (+13%)
• Battery life (no. of cycles to 80% DoD): >1000 cycles (+100%)
• Mileage: >300,000 km (+88%)
At present this could cause some issues – that’s where LIBERTY steps in:
Design an electric vehicle battery that offers 500 km of range before ultra-fast recharging in just 18 minutes – and all this combined with a battery life expectancy in excess of 300.000 km.
These are only some of the challenges that the European project LIBERTY, led by the Basque technology centre IKERLAN, will address along with 15 additional European partners ranging from Universities providing fundamental research, leading technology giants, TIER suppliers, up through the OEM level. Mercedes-Benz AG, one of the partners of this strategic Horizon 2020 EU project for sustainable mobility, will integrate the batteries developed by LIBERTY in one of its electric vehicles in order to demonstrate the technological feasibility of all LIBERTY innovations.
By the end of the project, the main achievements truly speak for themselves, and is illustrated by the following KPIs that were successfully achieved:
• Battery system capacity: 88.34 kWh (+10%)
• Battery system weight (based on 80 kWh capacity): 560 kg (-15%)
• Gross Vehicle weight (based on 80 kWh capacity): 2335 kg (-3%)
• Max. charging power: 350 kW (+220%)
• Charging window (10-80% SoC): 18 min (-55%)
• Range (WLTP): 470 km (+13%)
• Range (80-10% SoC): 329 km (+13%)
• Battery life (no. of cycles to 80% DoD): >1000 cycles (+100%)
• Mileage: >300,000 km (+88%)
By the end of the LIBERTY project, major technological progress was achieved in the design, integration, and validation of a high-voltage battery pack. Innovations included advanced thermal management, improved safety features, battery monitoring systems, and strategies for end-of-life and second-life use. These results led to the identification of key exploitable results (KERs) and were widely disseminated across industry and research through workshops, conferences, publications, exhibitions, and targeted communications.
The following summarize the main achievements of the project:
• Definition of design criteria, system requirements, and validation plan
• Battery and mechanical system design
• Electric, thermal, and mechanical cell-level testing and modelling
• Cell arrangement and immersion cooling system design and testing
• Active safety system development and simulations
• 800 V HV electrical subsystem development
• Solid-state main switch and low-power pressure sensor implementation
• BMS hardware demonstrators and SOC algorithm validation
• Development of aging test protocols, including fast-charging strategies
• Adaptation and testing of a Thermal Runaway simulator
• Battery dismantling procedure definition
• Stack-level electrical and thermal testing
• Repeated Thermal Runaway tests and cell stack safety validations
• Full battery assembly, performance and fast-charging testing
• Virtual safety testing at pack level
• LCA and TCO analysis considering second-life applications
The most prominent KERs of the project include:
• High-voltage electrical subsystem with integrated BMS slave
• New fire-resistant and thermally dissipative safety materials
• Semiconductor-based main switch components
• Low-power pressure sensor innovation
• Advanced BMS IC functionalities and novel state estimation techniques
• Battery housing with improved thermal management and cooling system
• Second-life dismantling and recycling services
• Enhanced SOx algorithms for battery life estimation
• Detailed cell testing under variable pressure conditions
• Thermal runaway testing and crash safety models with SC detection
• FE modelling from cell to full vehicle integration
• Testing infrastructures and standardized procedures
• LCA study of EV battery and IoT-BMS interface development
• Strengthened links to supplier networks and associations
Six patents were filed to protect innovations in thermal control and battery monitoring, securing key industrial property generated during the project.
The project's dissemination activities ensured strong visibility and impact, reflected in the following indicators:
• 5 workshops organized
• 7 non-peer-reviewed publications
• 6 exhibitions attended
• 1 project flyer developed
• 40 social media posts published
• 4 communication campaigns launched
• 19 conference participations
• 2 project videos produced
• 6 joint activities with COLLABAT
LIBERTY has delivered concrete results with strong exploitation potential and societal relevance, supporting Europe’s transition to sustainable and competitive electric mobility.
The following summarize the main achievements of the project:
• Definition of design criteria, system requirements, and validation plan
• Battery and mechanical system design
• Electric, thermal, and mechanical cell-level testing and modelling
• Cell arrangement and immersion cooling system design and testing
• Active safety system development and simulations
• 800 V HV electrical subsystem development
• Solid-state main switch and low-power pressure sensor implementation
• BMS hardware demonstrators and SOC algorithm validation
• Development of aging test protocols, including fast-charging strategies
• Adaptation and testing of a Thermal Runaway simulator
• Battery dismantling procedure definition
• Stack-level electrical and thermal testing
• Repeated Thermal Runaway tests and cell stack safety validations
• Full battery assembly, performance and fast-charging testing
• Virtual safety testing at pack level
• LCA and TCO analysis considering second-life applications
The most prominent KERs of the project include:
• High-voltage electrical subsystem with integrated BMS slave
• New fire-resistant and thermally dissipative safety materials
• Semiconductor-based main switch components
• Low-power pressure sensor innovation
• Advanced BMS IC functionalities and novel state estimation techniques
• Battery housing with improved thermal management and cooling system
• Second-life dismantling and recycling services
• Enhanced SOx algorithms for battery life estimation
• Detailed cell testing under variable pressure conditions
• Thermal runaway testing and crash safety models with SC detection
• FE modelling from cell to full vehicle integration
• Testing infrastructures and standardized procedures
• LCA study of EV battery and IoT-BMS interface development
• Strengthened links to supplier networks and associations
Six patents were filed to protect innovations in thermal control and battery monitoring, securing key industrial property generated during the project.
The project's dissemination activities ensured strong visibility and impact, reflected in the following indicators:
• 5 workshops organized
• 7 non-peer-reviewed publications
• 6 exhibitions attended
• 1 project flyer developed
• 40 social media posts published
• 4 communication campaigns launched
• 19 conference participations
• 2 project videos produced
• 6 joint activities with COLLABAT
LIBERTY has delivered concrete results with strong exploitation potential and societal relevance, supporting Europe’s transition to sustainable and competitive electric mobility.
Most of the components designed in the LIBERTY project entail meaningful innovations beyond the state of the art. These are some of the innovations:
• Immersion cooling based thermal management system allowing an increased fast charging rate and improved cooling capabilities, where the system has validated with very positive results.
• Thermal runaway propagation avoidance by means of synergies between an optimized active safety system and the immersion cooling based thermal management system, that has been validated by a combination of simulation and experimental testing.
• Enhanced safety and weight reduction by means of a fast-acting solid-state main switch, capable of disconnecting the batteries in case of any hazardous event, that has been validated at battery pack level.
• Enhanced safety under idle or parking conditions by means of the integration of a low consumption pressure sensor, that it is already validated at battery level.
• Tailored BMS design allowing a potential transfer to specific second life applications.
• Transfer Learning based SOX estimation algorithms development, capable of learning from field data and providing accurate predictions for different cell references/chemistries, that has already been proved to be accurate while reducing the experimental burden.
• Advanced test procedures for safety and performance with the purpose of reducing required qualification times.
• Advanced thermal runaway simulation and testing approach to allow scaling cell- or module-level testing results to battery pack level.
• Semi-automated battery dismantling procedures for recycling.
• Boosts EU battery sector competitiveness through innovation and patents.
• Supports clean, safe mobility and EV adoption aligned with EU climate goals with the creation of COLLABAT cluster.
• Immersion cooling based thermal management system allowing an increased fast charging rate and improved cooling capabilities, where the system has validated with very positive results.
• Thermal runaway propagation avoidance by means of synergies between an optimized active safety system and the immersion cooling based thermal management system, that has been validated by a combination of simulation and experimental testing.
• Enhanced safety and weight reduction by means of a fast-acting solid-state main switch, capable of disconnecting the batteries in case of any hazardous event, that has been validated at battery pack level.
• Enhanced safety under idle or parking conditions by means of the integration of a low consumption pressure sensor, that it is already validated at battery level.
• Tailored BMS design allowing a potential transfer to specific second life applications.
• Transfer Learning based SOX estimation algorithms development, capable of learning from field data and providing accurate predictions for different cell references/chemistries, that has already been proved to be accurate while reducing the experimental burden.
• Advanced test procedures for safety and performance with the purpose of reducing required qualification times.
• Advanced thermal runaway simulation and testing approach to allow scaling cell- or module-level testing results to battery pack level.
• Semi-automated battery dismantling procedures for recycling.
• Boosts EU battery sector competitiveness through innovation and patents.
• Supports clean, safe mobility and EV adoption aligned with EU climate goals with the creation of COLLABAT cluster.