Why is light weighting such a critical factor in the realm of electric vehicles? Well, let's dive into it. According to research by Lux Research, when it comes to enhancing the range of electric vehicles (EVs), there are two major factors that stand out: weight and power. Basically, when you want to boost the range of your battery electric vehicle (BEV), you have two primary levers to pull. First, you can actively work on reducing the weight within the battery pack. Second, you can effectively increase the power output of the pack itself. These two strategies can be pursued simultaneously, but it's pretty evident that shedding pack weight should be a top priority. Here's a noteworthy tidbit: for every kilogram of weight added to a battery pack, you'll end up requiring an estimated 0.59 kilograms of additional weight in various subsystems of the vehicle. This phenomenon is known as mass compounding. These subsystems can encompass critical elements like the Body-in-White (BIW) structure, brakes, suspension systems, and other key components. This drives home the crucial importance of minimizing battery pack weight in the overall design of the EV battery pack.
Overloading than prescribed weight which is typically kerb weight also reduces range. For commercial vehicles while designing the pack I have observed during vehicle loading testings any additional kg added results in approx 5% loss in range.
Thank you Elizabeth for mentioning this topic! Graphenest - Advanced Nanotechnology provides metal free solutions that can help reduce the final weight of BEV systems. Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies are very welcome to discuss suitable graphene based solutions for the challenge of minimizing battery pack weight!
It is true that weight saving helps in increasing the range somewhat, but the graph shown here might easily be misinterpreted as showing a huge effect of weight saving. In reality it simply shows that larger battery packs when used in the same car increase the range. Simple example: ID.3 with lowest and highest capacity pack: 45 vs 77 kWh, car weight 1772 versus 1928 kg. So automatically the car mass to pack size goes down for the larger battery size. In this case 25 for the large pack and 39.4 kg/kWh for the small pack. Then obviously the small pack has a smaller range, but it is not a heavier car. Small pack range: 348 km, large pack 548 km. Mass saving is still important of course to reduce material usage, and indeed it has a compound effect, such as e.g. on how much steel is needed for the crash protection, suspension, and so on. So typically it has a favourable effect on CO2 footprint already from cradle to gate.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing Elizabeth - insightful.
Perhaps we should suggest that Isaac Newton and Colin Chapman were both correct? Focus on making it lighter and the maths says that a whole of benefit will follow. How much benefit? Well that might depend on your view but the broad trend is clear, lighter is better. Perhaps the fundamental maths is........well......fundamental. Lighter is better! Far-UK Ltd #lightweighting Simple, at least in principle.