Cobalt-free battery now in test phase: a major milestone for the COBRA project

Cobalt-free battery now in test phase: a major milestone for the COBRA project

In the first week of June, several COBRA partners came together in Catalonia to carry out the End-of-Line testing of two complete battery pack prototypes. This marked a major milestone for the project that is developing cobalt-free electric vehicle (EV) battery packs. From this baseline, subsequent generations (Gen1, Gen2, GenX) will be developed from treated recycled active materials to the full battery pack – with improved performance. 

Partners present at commissioning week: AVL, Eurecat, Aentron, IREC, Applus+ IDIADA, Bax & Company, and Millor Battery

The battery commissioning 

After Millor Battery had assembled the battery pack, preliminary calibration and testing were performed. Subsequent testing procedures were completed at the nearby Eurecat facilities. Overall, the performed tests included: 

  1. IVT-S current sensor calibration
  2. Installation of the BCU
  3. Low voltage commissioning
  4. High voltage connection test
  5. BCU calibration

Firstly, at the Millor Batteries facilities, preliminary tests were performed to determine the battery pack’s proper functioning (e.g. BMS, connections, and sensors). Since one of the module’s MCUs reported a non-functioning cell, module-level testing was performed using multimeters. Once the alternative testing was completed, all the elements were performing correctly.

COBRA battery pack without lid

If you’d like further details on the latest developments in COBRA, or want to reach out to one of the partners, contact cobra@baxcompany.com or visit our Twitter and LinkedIn channels.

COBRA teams up with MILLOR BATTERY to manufacture the first cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries in Europe

COBRA teams up with MILLOR BATTERY to manufacture the first cobalt-free lithium-ion batteries in Europe

This article was originally published on millorbattery.com

The European consortium COBRA for the development of cobalt-free batteries has chosen the Spanish manufacturer MILLOR BATTERY for the production of its first cobalt-free batteries for electric cars.

The COBRA (CObalt-free Batteries for FutuRe Automotive Applications) consortium aims to develop a new lithium-ion battery technology free of cobalt. The project has been underway for a year and now that the first phase of development prototypes is addressed, the consortium has chosen MILLOR BATTERY for the manufacture of prototypes and the first batteries. They have opted for the spanish manufacturer for different criteria among which stand out their experience and knowledge in the design, development and production of batteries, both low and high voltage.

Thanks to the facilities that the company has located in Barcelona, and where the batteries marketed by the brand are already produced under the names flexiFIVEL and flexiEBUST, MILLOR BATTERY offers this consortium a technology, processes, quality and safety levels reference in the industry.

But why are these types of batteries so important and especially that they are cobalt-free?

Increasingly, electric mobility is present in the transport ecosystems of all European countries, and with it the electric batteries that drive all these vehicles.

It is true that, over the life of an electric vehicle, CO2 emissions can be reduced by about 50% compared to a similar combustion vehicle. However, these lithium batteries used today still have room for improvement and more considering the undeniable increase in number that these vehicles are experiencing in recent years.

That is why the European consortium COBRA and MILLOR BATTERY seek to achieve a significant reduction in the proportion of critical raw materials of batteries without compromising both energy and energy performance. Among these raw materials is cobalt, an expensive, scarce and not found in Europe. That is why an initiative like this becomes so important.

In this sense, MILLOR BATTERY considers that this initiative additionally offers an important starting point and generates synergies for products already on the market, both flexiEBUST and flexiFIVEL. These batteries will be able to take advantage of the knowledge derived from this collaboration by making them even more respectful of the environment and reducing the cost.

The first functional prototypes will be ready in early 2022 and the results of the project will be made public by the consortium by the end of 2023.

Among the companies that make up the COBRA consortium is the IREC (Institut de Recerca de l’Energia de Catalunya).

Baltasar López, founder and CEO of MILLOR BATTERY: “We are very proud that the COBRA consortium and IREC have relied on MILLOR BATTERY for such a strategic collaboration. From our origins we are fully committed to the scientific, technological and industrial development of batteries in Europe.”

Questions? Contact cobra@baxcompany.com or visit our Twitter and LinkedIn channels.