Institution news
Ahead of speaking at International EV Batteries 2017, we caught up with Paul Freeland, Principal Engineer at Cosworth. Paul explained his role and involvement in the development of EV/HEV battery technologies, the critical challenges, the five to 10 year vision and what he is looking forward to at the event.
Q: Could you briefly explain your role and involvement in EV/HEV battery technologies?
Paul Freeland (PH): Cosworth, as a designer, developer and manufacturer of high efficiency powertrains is working on a spectrum of projects with hybrid powertrains, such as the Aston Martin Valkyrie.
Q: What is the number one challenge holding back widespread use of EVs in today’s current market?
PH: This is the battery energy density. It is very difficult to see how the energy storage of batteries can get close to that of liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
Q: What is the most exciting development in this field at the moment, either within your company or in the industry in general?
PH: Smart battery cells incorporating on-board chips, that remove a lot of the BMS cabling, and can report in much more detail about the cell health and SOC.
Q: Where do you see the future of the use of electric vehicle technologies going over the next five to ten years?
PH: EV can only really satisfy city driving. HEV technology is the only approach that can maintain the product range and flexibility that the market requires. Reducing battery weight and increasing capacity will improve the advantages of HEV technology.
Q: What are you most looking forward to by attending and presenting at international EV Batteries 2017?
PH: Learning from and discussing with the other presenters and delegates.
Find out more
Paul will be speaking at
International EV Batteries 2017 on 21–22 November in London. Join him and other experts from Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), Williams Advanced Engineering, Mitsubishi Motor R&D Europe, Audi AG, Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan Motors Manufacturing UK and more.
Key programme highlights:
- Find out how the UK is leading the race to zero emissions from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV)
- Find out how Williams Advanced Engineering are innovating high performance batteries and how this can contribute to the mass adoption of electric vehicles
- Learn about high voltage components in the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV from Mitsubishi Motor R&D Europe
- Address the technical and legal aspects of high voltage battery safety from Audi AG
- Gain a high level look at battery requirements for automotive applications from Jaguar Land Rover
- Discuss mass production of lithium ion batteries for automotive and non-automotive applications with Nissan Motors Manufacturing UK.
For further information, visit the International EV Batteries 2017 event page.