Audi researching production of electrical energy storage devices

Audi is continuing to step up its activities in the field of electric mobility. Recently, the German car manufacturer has launched the eProduction research project together with selected partners. The target is to generate expertise in the assembly of traction batteries and develop a production concept for the energy storage devices of electric cars. The three-year project is being sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

 “This research project will give Audi the expertise to produce the battery systems and some of their peripheral components itself, says Frank Dreves, Member of the Board of Management for Production at AUDI AG.

Anatomy of a Traction Battery

As far as its performance and lifetime are concerned, the arrangement of the cells in a traction battery plays a similarly important role as the cooling system, which can use either air or coolant. Components such as the high-voltage and service connections, the electronic management system, the electromechanical components, the housing and various sensors and actuators round out the battery system.

Through the eProduction research project, Audi is looking to build up the necessary process and automation infrastructure – with the goal of developing a marketable production concept for high-voltage energy storage devices in battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The future process chain starts with the materials used, considers matters of lightweight construction and the depth of value added, includes new contacting and joining techniques and ends with test methods suitable for volume production.

Audi has acquired two companies as its project partners – the software experts from Dassault Systèmes and the engineering specialists from Fees Verzahnungs­technik. Seven universities and institutes are also involved: Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden), Chemnitz University of Technology (TU Chemnitz), Munich University of Technology (TU München), the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen, the Rheinische Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) in Cologne, the RWTH Aachen and the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials in Bremen.

One focus of the research project is the safety of employees during the production of high-voltage components. Another research focus concerns the question as to how existing norms and standards, on protective clothing for example, have to be evolved for the production of electrical components.

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