Solvay’s Battery Enclosure Materials Automation (BEMA) project has won Innovate UK funding. In collaboration with Airborne, the project has received letters of support from Jaguar Land Rover and Vertical Aerospace who see great potential in the design of more compact and lightweight enclosures for high-energy batteries in future electric cars and aircraft and are interested in the sustainability aspect of this project which aims to reuse composite waste.
Solvay Materials’ EMEA sales manager, automotive, Mark Wright, said: “There is a pressing need to meet net-zero emission regulations and targets with more energy efficient electric powertrain and propulsion solutions.
“While already lending structural and weight saving advantages over metals in existing EVs and aircraft, fully composite battery designs for larger production volumes have yet to show their technical and manufacturing feasibility.
“BEMA seeks to deliver on these challenges by combining the benefits of Solvay’s advanced thermosetting material technology with Airborne’s expertise in flexible automated composite manufacturing systems to create lightweight next-generation battery packs.”
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