HELIOS

The HELIOS project aims at developing and integrating innovative materials, designs, technologies and processes to create a new concept of smart, modular and scalable battery pack for a wide range of electric vehicles used in urban electromobility services, from mid-size full-electric vehicles to electric buses, with improved performance, energy density, safety and Levelized Cost of Storage (LCoS).

This project aims at i) developing new technologies in the field of advanced materials, Li-ion batteries, thermal management, power electronics, sensors and ICTs, which combined allow to create a new concept of the standardised, modular and scalable hybrid Liion battery pack for urban electromobility applications; ranging from mid-size vehicles to electric buses, with improved performance, autonomy, safety and LCoS, and minimum carbon footprint; ii) creating new eco-designs and processes, which facilitate its reuse in second life applications and further recycling at its EoL, contributing to a circular and integrated supply chain in the EU for the fabrication of battery packs, as well as effective and sustainable models for urban electromobility; ii) demonstrating the effectiveness of the solution in relevant use cases for urban electromobility, such as EV cars e-Bus fleets.

Reason for applying to HSbooster.eu services

I would like to interact with experts to figure out how to develop a standard for EV BMS applications and other design aspects. 

Main standardisation interest

Given the complexity of the EU automotive industry and the aggressive global competition between car manufacturers, there is currently no standard solution for the different models and types of vehicles available. Nowadays, each manufacturer invests billions of € to develop their own solutions, which rely on different technologies and designs. In contrast, a more common approach may unify performance and safety requirements, to create a cost-efficient production chain in the EU, based on economies of scale, as a competitive advantage against Asian and USA manufacturers. Moreover, this approach will not only benefit EV car manufactures but also complementary markets like urban mobility, stationary storage in 2nd life batteries and battery recycling, through the establishment of a Pan-European supply chain within the Li-ion battery sector that is based on effective circular economy models.

One of the tasks of this project aims to define scenarios, procedures, standards of certification and use cases to validate the effectiveness of the solution for car-sharing and e-bus. To verify the modules to be developed, scenarios will be created,
procedures will be determined, certification and standards will be examined, and examples of use will be defined. Certification and standards to be followed in battery packs to be developed for car-sharing and e-bus are the same, and the number of battery cells in battery packs will be different for car-sharing and e-bus.

A list of modules to be developed, and scenarios will be created, procedures will be determined, certification and standards will be examined, and examples of use will be defined. List of requirements and use cases for standardization, list of scenarios, procedures, standards of certification and use cases. List of standards applications.

Another task aims to develop the design by means of modularity with the aspect of targeted hybrid system architecture (different batteries) and standardisation, providing the necessary safety and ecological requirements, defined in previous tasks. All interfaces – mechanical, structural, thermal, electrical, control and support – will be analysed and included, aiming to obtain modular packages with safe volume and weight. Additionally, the geometrical limitations in the system, the requirements for mechanical and electric connections, the communication standards and also the allowed power consumption are important requirements to define and standardize. Design in means of modularity with the aspect of targeted hybrid system architecture (different batteries) and standardisation will be performed, providing the necessary safety and ecological requirements, defined in previous tasks.

• Standardisation of the BMS technologies is also addressed in one of the tasks. New battery architectures can gain benefits over the whole value chain through standardization. Introducing wireless communication e.g. between the modules will drive standardization, makes battery designs flexible and adaptations to different applications easier.
• Standardisation methods will be proposed and formats for data collected from the cell level towards the value chain, including for the purpose of tuning the digital twin models. We need to connect with key stakeholders across academia, industry and standardization bodies to facilitate the sharing of ideas for the sharing of information between partners and to close the gaps between materials science, manufacturing and end-users. Standardisation can help to maximize the compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality of the Battery Management System for large EV battery packs.
• While there are a considerable number of standards for battery-powered applications, their adoption and interpolation with a focus on BMS is not straightforward. A study of all existing regulations and standards for the different components of the battery pack, especially hardware and software within the BMS, is carried out within this task. Furthermore, the ultimate purpose of this study is to name a series of guidelines for the standardization of BMS technologies for EV Liion batteries, which are also expected to be used in future applications of Stationary Energy Storage during its second life. This study takes as reference the information offered by the Everlasting project, which conducted a Workshop in 2019 on this standardization and performed a study about the BMS standardization in 2019 (public deliverable). Within this subtask developments an analysis of the current and present communication protocols and controllers for ultra-fast charging is performed, to qualify and asses present and future communication standards and communication architecture of the electrical vehicle platforms, with a special focus on 5G.

There is limited information and data-sharing about the residual value of battery capacity, a lack of standards, and regulatory uncertainty about liability when the battery changes owners and applications. We need to establish standardised methodologies and protocols to extract useful data from EV battery cells, and to create databases and libraries that could be used within the Automotive Industry for design and manufacturing purposes. The developed methodologies and the collected data will serve as a powerful tool to compare and simulate the performance of future battery chemistries and systems addressed in LC-BAT-6, LC-BAT-9, LC-BAT-12, LC-BAT-13 and LC-BAT-14 for the EV sector prior to production and testing, significantly decreasing operating costs.