Q: Please briefly explain your role, involvement, and experience with electric vehicles
Benjamin Silverstone, WMG Skills Centre, University of Warwick (BS): I lead on workforce transformation and skills at WMG, University of Warwick. I was a founder of the National Electrification Skills Framework and led on a number of projects related to ensuring the provision of capability and competency for the EV supply chain.
Charlotte Roe, Imperial College London (CR): I am a final year PhD student at Imperial College London investigating the impact of immersion cooling on the lifetime and performance of lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries used in electric vehicles. My research centres around lifetime experimental testing of li- ion batteries under different ambient temperatures and fluid conditions. I mainly investigate air and silicon oil (at various viscosities) to identify the effect that different fluid properties have at different temperatures on the lifetime and performance of li-ion batteries.
Francesco Restuccia, King’s College London (FR): I am an academic at KCL focusing on thermal and fire research. My work on electric vehicles has focused on research for batteries, namely thermal aspects of batteries, divided in 2 areas: (i) fire safety of batteries, specifically how and why batteries ignite and the consequences of ignition and (ii) thermal optimisation to improve lifetime of batteries.
Jennifer Wen, University of Surrey (JW): My team pioneered the development of an electrothermal model for the evolution of lithium-ion battery (LIB) from normal to abuse conditions until thermal runaway in 2015; and subsequently conducted numerical and experimental investigations on the use of phase change material to improve thermal management for LIB cell clusters and fire/deflagration characteristics of high energy density LIBs. In the recently completed LibRIS project led by Jaguar Land Rover, Professor Wen was the Work Package Leader for Modelling. Her team developed models for thermal and mechanically induced thermal runaway as well as the resulting gas and spark ejections and fires. The models have been further used to evaluate mitigation measures and optimize LIB module design.
Laura Lander, King’s College London (LL): I am currently a lecturer at King’s College London focussing on the development of resilient and sustainable battery systems. I have been working in the battery field for the past 10 years, where I have been working across scales including developing innovative battery materials as well as assessing the environmental and economic impacts of batteries in a real-world context.
Denis Pasero, Ilika (DP): I am product manager at Ilika, aiming to align market needs for new EV batteries with Ilika’s unique technology.
James Grey, Transport for London (JG): I’m a Fire Engineer for Transport for London (TfL). One of my projects is to work with TfL Bus Engineering to improve fire safety for buses, including electric buses.
Q: What is the top challenge facing your industry at present?
BS: Education and skills is a challenging area as it tends not to change particularly quickly. Meeting emerging skills needs can be a challenge and we are looking at how we can address that. A significant challenge is also face by providers who are losing skills staff to industry for better wages. Without the right capability in the training providers we cannot ensure that industry is able to receive the training that they need.
CR: The most pressing challenge currently facing my industry revolves around ensuring the safety and mitigating the degradation of lithium-ion batteries in the context of immersion cooling. Balancing the advancements in immersion cooling technology with maintaining the safety and longevity of lithium-ion batteries is a critical concern. This challenge encompasses developing effective cooling strategies that not only enhance performance but also safeguard against potential safety risks and the accelerated degradation of batteries.
Furthermore, it is imperative to promote a circular economy for batteries, where cells can be efficiently recycled and repurposed at the end of their lifespan. This approach is pivotal to ensure that electric vehicles continue to contribute significantly to mitigating the environmental footprint associated with traditional vehicles.
FR: A complete understanding of why and how battery failures come to be and how to prevent or suppress them.
LL: Satisfying the steeply increasing battery demand which includes also ramping up the recycling sector to recover battery materials.
DP: A widespread materials supply chain and the availability of talents (engineers, researchers, technicians) would avoid a mismatch between the supply and demand of the many GWh of batteries required in the future.
JG: The impact an electric bus fire may have on passengers and within bus depots.
Q: How would you say your industry has evolved over the past five years?
BS: Education and skills has been slow to evolve but there has been a greater recognition of the need to ensure that providers are able to meet industrial need. I would say that the closer links between industry and education is one of the biggest areas that has changed in the past five years.
CR: I'd say the industry has undergone significant evolution in the past five years. If I reflect on the start of my PhD journey and compare it to the present, there have been substantial advancements in cell design, cell safety, faster charging and improved lifetimes and cell performance.
On the flip side, it's noteworthy that consumers have become considerably more receptive to electric vehicles compared to five years ago. Moreover, the technology integrated into these electric vehicles has seen a tremendous improvement over the same period. Consequently, the industry has experienced rapid growth and is poised to continue expanding as consumer demand for electric vehicles continues to rise.
FR: A lot more understanding has gone into understanding ignition and propagation when batteries fail, and the study of this for different chemistries.
LL: There is more awareness about the environmental impacts and supply chain insecurities associated with EV batteries and industry, policy makers, and academics are investing significant resources to find solutions to these challenges.
DP: In the lithium-ion battery industry, we saw an interesting split between cheap, low performance batteries based on LFP vs higher performance based on NMC/Si but at a higher cost. Increased dominance of China has to be noted too.
JG: More research is being conducted into electric vehicle fires. The fire safety industry and fire service have gained a greater understanding of electric vehicle fires and their hazards. Much more needs to be done in this area.
Q: What developments are going on in your industry that may have an impact on the development of future electric vehicles and battery technology?
BS: There is an ongoing mindset shift away from traditional sectors and silos in towards understanding the transcendent nature of the technology involved. For example, batteries are applicable across a wide range of traditional sectors and viewing things in a sector agnostic way enables better access to training for industry. A stronger focus on the capability and competencies, rather than specific jobs in specific sectors, has allowed for a more rapid response to need and this will continue to improve over the coming years. There has also been a different view from government on the need to be more dynamic in the way that we approach emerging skills development.
CR: My group Imperial College research a range of critical areas within the realm of electric vehicles encompasses, including battery degradation modelling, experimental validation of these models, battery lifetime testing, performance assessment, and innovative domains such as battery passports. Academic exploration of batteries enables the development of pioneering diagnostic techniques, aiming to ensure their longevity and optimal performance throughout their operational life.
FR: Models are being develop to predict battery degradation and heat gradients within packs, which can really help scale up the lifetime of future battery packs.
LL: In my opinion, supply chain bottlenecks and battery monopolies will have a strong impact on the battery sector. These push us to develop resilient systems (e.g. sodium-ion batteries) and to establish a more independent battery and EV industry.
DP: There are signs that, although lithium ion batteries continue to improve, these will hit a theoretical plateau. We believe that solid state batteries will provide next generation EV with higher safety and performance.
JG: Our industry looks at how electric vehicles impact fire safety. Our work may impact the fire safety requirements for future buses.
Q: What will you be presenting at the conference and how will this benefit participants?
BS: I will be exploring skills as part of the supply chain. People are the most critical resource that any business has and there has been too much focus on how non-people related factors will enable growth in the battery and EV sector without enough consideration of the capability requirements that will underpin them. Looking at skills as another component of the supply chain helps to address this.
CR: I will present my research on how immersion cooling affects the performance and lifespan of lithium-ion batteries in the automotive industry. My goal is to provide insights into the impact of immersion cooling on battery life and effective thermal fluid cooling strategies. Attendees will gain a better understanding of optimizing battery performance through immersion cooling, leading to more reliable electric vehicle batteries.
FR: Thermal management of EV (and safety considerations), they will benefit the participants in understanding some of the potential techniques and methods that are being developed for predictive behaviour of batteries to ultimately have a reduction in degradation when batteries operate.
JW: The presentation will provide an overview of the development, validation, and application of in-house modified version of open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code OpenFOAM for predicting safety related issues for lithium-ion battery (LIB), covering battery failure induced by thermal and mechanical abuse or due to overcharge/discharge as well the resulting releases and transport of sparks and fires.
LL: I will be presenting a recent techno-economic study on battery pack disassembly we conducted with academics across the UK. This will provide an additional insight into the economic challenges of battery end-of-life treatment pre recycling.
DP: We will be describing how Ilika is following its technology and manufacturing road map by way of collaborations with UK companies and universities, partially supported by UK grant-funded programs.
JG: I will be giving a presentation on ‘EV Bus Fire Safety’. It will discuss the work we have been doing to improve the fire safety for electric buses in the future.
Q: Why is it important for engineers and industry to come together at this event and share best practice?
BS: We need, as a nation, to be clear about what we are doing. The UK is great at innovation and awful when it comes to industrialising. I think we need to come together to ensure that we do not lose out ability to manufacture and that we find solutions and agree upon a way forwards.
CR: Engineers and industry experts from various backgrounds bring unique perspectives to the table. Sharing best practices allows them to exchange ideas, concepts, and solutions that might not have been considered within their specific disciplines. This cross-pollination can lead to innovative approaches to complex problems. Many challenges in today's world are multidisciplinary in nature. When professionals from different industries collaborate and share their experiences, they can collectively tackle issues that require a diverse set of skills and knowledge. This can lead to more comprehensive and effective solutions. Sharing best practices involves discussing both successes and failures. This transparency enables individuals and organizations to learn from the experiences of others. Learning from mistakes can prevent unnecessary repetition of errors, saving time, resources, and potential setbacks.
FR: There is a need for synergistic approaches to the challenges in the battery field, where a variety of expertise is required, both from the academic community and the industrial communities. It is great to share best practices from both.
JW: It is a good opportunity to forge collaboration/business venture for mutual benefit.
LL: In such a strongly applied field as batteries it is paramount that academia and industry are keeping a close connection to foster knowledge exchange and to accelerate the development of advanced battery systems fit for real-world applications.
DP: Whilst the size of the commercial opportunity in the battery sector is large enough to accommodate many players, all with different chemistry variations, we believe that collaboration between academia and industry is key to accelerating innovation.
JG: We have a duty of care to ensure that our industry provides a safe environment for all those who use or work with electric vehicles. The more knowledge and information we can share the safer we can make electric vehicles.
This year’s International EV Batteries conference will be taking place on 7-8 November 2023 at Aston Villa Football Club, Birmingham. To book your place, please visit www.imeche.org/evbatteries.