This article is part of the TechXchange: EV Battery Management.
England's UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) organization extended its Faraday Battery Challenge through 2025 and is inviting new participants to apply for funding to develop and commercialize advanced battery technologies. UKRI, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), is investing up to £541 million to further develop a UK battery technology industry aimed at improving:
- Battery lifespan
- Battery range
- Charging rate of batteries
- Reuse, remanufacture, and recycling of batteries
These funds are being used to help underwrite the cost of battery-related feasibility studies, industrial research, and experimental development activities for both academic and commercial organizations.
One group of participants in this next phase is Altair, JLR (Jaguar Land Rover), and battery manufacturer Danecca, who are collaborating on a project to create a new design process for electric vehicles. Their project focuses on developing an integrated structural battery pack and wireless battery cells that will enable the design and manufacture of products with increased efficiency, reliability, and sustainability.
Altair says that it will use the new design process to develop vehicle prototypes that feature a new, lighter body, offering more room for the battery without the additional weight.
JLR will also apply Altair’s C123 process, a unique three-stage concept development process for body-in-white structures. The company will also perform optimization with Altair's OptiStruct FEA solver, a part of the Altair HyperWorks design and simulation platform, utilizing the solution’s newly developed electrothermal features.
The Challenge's past participants include I-CoBat, a company dedicated to battery cooling technologies, MAT2BAT, a developer of battery module design tools, as well as Nexeon and Echion, which are involved with advanced battery architectures.
A complete list of projects currently funded by the Faraday Challenge can be found here. For more information on the Challenge, click here.
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